Blood That Ties
by xmisscaitlin
Summary: Barbie Blank has always lived a simple life. She considered herself pretty much normal, other than the fact that she can hear other peoples thoughts if she choses to. A fact that drags her into the world of the supernatural. She always somewhat believed it existed just not to the extent that it does. She goes from waitress to much more faster than she can blink.
1. Chapter 1

_So, welcome to Blood That Ties. This is one of my newest stories and it is a supernatural one. And since it's the first chapter it's kind of...boring but gotta start somewhere right?_

Read and enjoy.

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**Chapter One -  
Promotions and Applications**

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Stepping out of her Mitsubishi Eclipse Barbara 'Barbie' Blank looked down at her outfit of a tight fitting V-neck black t-shirt with the Barrett's Bar logo on her left breast and the pair of incredibly short black jean shorts that were part of her uniform and couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips when she thought of when she'd first been given the clothes that were her uniform. While she didn't think that the shirts she'd been given, a t-shirt, tank top and long sleeve shirt, all tight, black and with a V-neck, were all that bad it was the two pair of bottoms she'd been given that she had worried about. The shorts were shorter than the ones she'd ever seen girls at Hooters wear and the jeans while they covered everything were so tight that she knew that she'd have to wear them for at least half an hour before work in order to actually be able to move in them comfortably.

Of course that had been almost five years ago when she was only nineteen and couldn't possibly imagine how it was that the uniforms passed the company policy and were accepted by not only the health department but the customers that ate at the bar. It had only taken her a month to realize that most of the customers were men that were more than happy to have their waitress in tight clothes that left little to the imagination and that was after she'd talked to the manager slash owner who had explained it to her. Wade had been quick to tell her that while it might not be something she was comfortable in, in the beginning, he'd promised her that the tips, which were completely hers, were going to make the clothes he'd given her more than worth wearing and he'd been right.

Five years later she was more than content and a lot more comfortable in the clothes and since she now knew what to pair together to receive larger tips, it definitely made it more than worth it.

As she walked into Barrett's Bar and grill she was surprised to find that it was mostly empty at eight o'clock on a Friday night instead of half full with the towns local drunks either already drunk or on their way there. Making her way towards the back she smiled at the town sheriff who nodded at her before looking up at Eve who was making her way toward the floor with a fake smile in her direction which the blonde decided to ignore. Shaking her head as she stepped into the small room that was the locker slash break room and she let out a breath as she made her way towards the locker that had been hers for the last five years, wondering just what it was that the night would hold.

The sound of the door slamming shut made Barbie jump slightly as she turned to the sound surprised to find her friend, Kaitlyn, with an oddly serious look on her face as she stomped towards the row of lockers.

"Okay, what's going on?" Barbie asked with a small frown as she watched the other blonde all but throw her purse into her own locker before she yanked out her apron.

"Dolph." The blonde sighed, her anger suddenly disappearing as she swallowed thickly and tears gathered in her eyes, "I caught him in _my house, in my bed_ with some old hag."

"I…don't know what to say." Barbie frowned not exactly sure what it was that she was supposed to say to the other woman and knowing that at the same time, there wasn't really anything she could say, "You're off tomorrow right? Well, what if you come over or we go out and get totally shitfaced to the point that you completely forget everything?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Kaitlyn nodded before sighing, "Come on, we should probably clock in before Wade flips his shit."

The blonde laughed lightly shaking her head before following the other woman down the small hall and into Wade's office where the small netbook that they used for clocking in and out was sitting open on the small table under the window where it always sat. When her friend stepped up to the small laptop first Barbie let out a small sigh as she looked around the office and realized that it was only eight and she had to work until two which would mean a long shift if things didn't pick up quickly. By the time she'd shook herself from her thoughts Kaitlyn was gone and she had been staring into space for about five minutes, she rolled her eyes at herself before moving to the small laptop and typing in her needed information before she turned to make her way towards the floor.

"Barbie." The thickly accented voice called to her as the blonde passed the kitchen and she stopped before turning to face her boss.

As she looked up at him she realized that if she hadn't known him for as long as she had he'd be completely intimidating and it wasn't just his six foot seven height or the muscular build that contributed to it. His scruffy beard that he had only recently grown gave him a bit of a rugged look and his hazel eyes which had always been so warm and friendly towards her were usually cold and calculating. The fact that he held himself in a manner that seemed to scream that he had fighting background and could easily handle himself against almost anyone added to the fact that there was something else about him, something almost animalistic in the air around him. All of that and the blonde couldn't see how it was that people wouldn't find him intimidating or downright scary if they didn't know him.

"Yeah?" She asked trying her best to not let her confusion at his stopping her show.

"We need to talk. Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Do you think you could spare a few minutes during your break or maybe after your shift?"

"Sure, no problem." She nodded, not completely trusting his words about whatever he wanted to talk about not being 'bad'.

"Great, oh a little word of warning, your brother called and said he was stopping by later with a few friends and told me to have an extra bottle of scotch on hand."

"Fantastic." The blonde sighed shaking her head before rubbing her temples as she prepared herself for what she was almost sure was going to be a long night.

The owner and manager of the bar gave her a smile and quick one armed hug, promising her it wouldn't be too bad and that if she wanted he'd make Eve wait on her brother and his rowdy friends, which brought a smile to her face as she made her way toward the front of the bar. It seemed like after the ten or so minutes that she'd been in the back the bar had suddenly filled up the amount of customers entering and sitting down had increased and she was thankful for it knowing otherwise she'd spend most of her shift twiddling her thumbs. Taking a deep breath she tightened her apron and grabbed a pen from behind the bar and made her way toward her section, already writing down the table number on the first sheet of paper on her small notebook.

Four hours, three spilled cokes and one too many drunks hitting on her later and Barbie was more than ready for her break and to change out of the now sticky black shirt that was clinging to her body more than it had to begin with. As she called to Eve to let her know that she was taking her break and the Latina would have to cover her section the blonde couldn't help but smile lightly, knowing that it would irritate the other woman. When she made it to the locker room she quickly headed for her locker and pulled out one of the extra shirts she'd made sure to keep in the small storage unit and quickly changed them, her stomach rumbling loudly as it reminded her that she hadn't had anything to eat other than a banana and cup of yogurt all day.

She stopped by the kitchen to grab the order she'd slid in with her last table's and smiled at the chef, Justin, before making her way back to Wade's office slightly surprised to find that he wasn't there. Shrugging to herself she turned and made her way back towards the break room, content to simply watch the small television in there and eat her lunch instead of talking to Wade about whatever was on his mind. It didn't take long for her to finish the bowl of beef stroganoff and the small bag of salt and vinegar chips she'd brought with her, her stomach feeling bloated by the time she finished, letting her know that she had more than likely over indulged.

"Guess who just showed up?" Justin's voice called to her as she passed the kitchen, making her frown and turn to him, clearly confused.

"Who?" She asked, wondering it could have been that would make Justin actually speak to her.

In the four months since they'd broken up the most interaction they had was limited to a smile and wave or her handing over an order for him to prepare, which she supposed that she could understand. They'd dated for almost two years and had been on the brink of getting engaged when she had told him that she thought it was best that go their separate ways which had let to a screaming match followed by months of silence. The fact that he was speaking to her now gave her a small flicker of hope that one day they'd be friends even if it wasn't as strong as of a friendship as before they'd had their relationship.

"Your brother along with some friends and I could be wrong but the back of the head that I can see looks like your cousin." He said with a sympathetic smile.

Biting her lip the blonde closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Great." She sighed before turning to face Justin, "Thanks for the warning. Ted and his friends I can handle no problem. Candice on the other hand…" She trailed off rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, good luck with that one." He said before quickly turning to the food that had started sizzling behind him.

The fact that she knew that her brother and Candice were waiting on the floor made her move a lot more slowly than she had been as she tried to drag the time out that it would take to get back to work so she could prepare with the clash she and her cousin were sure to have. She wasn't sure why but for as long as she could remember, even in elementary school, her and the dark haired woman had never gotten along. As much as Barbie tried to figure out what it was, well, she knew that a part of it was the fact that Candice was Eve's best friend but they had seemingly only become so close once their mutual dislike for the blonde had become known to the other. Pushing the thoughts out of her mind Barbie took a deep breath before gathering what she would need and heading to the floor, not surprised to find that the group had chosen her section to sit in.

"You want me to make one of the other girls to switch sections with you?" Wade's voiced questioned from behind her.

"No, I'll be fine." She smiled, hoping that it looked convincing, "I looked for you on break but couldn't find you."

"Sorry, had something I had to take care of." The raven haired man shrugged, "But I promise I'll be in my office all night crunching numbers and all the fun stuff that the owner of this place is supposed to do." He smirked.

"Alright, I'll talk to you when my shift is over." She smiled before turning towards the floor and squaring her shoulders.

Ten minutes later she was handing Justin the massive order she'd just taken from her brother and his friends and wanting nothing more than to hop behind the bar to left and down a few gulps of any kind of hard liquor. She glanced back over at her section and was surprised to find two of her booths that had been previously full empty and sighed before grabbing one of the bins with some water in it to clear of the table. By the time she was done she was smiling largely having found that both groups had apparently decided they were in a rush, leaving a note that told her to keep the change as a tip which meant that she had an extra fifty dollars sitting in her tip pocket.

By the time her shift was over Barbie was thankful that she no longer had to put up with her cousin, who was still sitting at the table with a few of her friends even though Ted had left long ago. Rolling her eyes as she slipped into the locker room the blonde pulled off her apron and stuffed it into the locker before grabbing the shirt that was dirty and her purse, ready to talk to Wade and then head home. When she reached Wade's office she could hear that he was talking to someone and not hearing another voice decided he was more than likely on the phone and as she slipped into the room realized that his voice was lower than she'd ever heard it, almost a growl. He turned and noticed her but held up a finger before turning his back to her, hurriedly finishing the conversation before slamming the phone down on it home.

"Everything okay?" She asked raising an eyebrow as she looked at him.

"Not exactly, but I won't waste your time with my problems. I'm sure you want to get this talk over with and head home."

"Yeah." She admitted with a small smile, "So, what's up?"

"You are my best waitress. You're hard working, smart, motivated, you've helped me with all kinds of events and number crushing and menu choices. If I'm not mistaken, you went to school for business." He said, resting his forearms on his desk and leaning on them.

"Yeah…" She frowned, not sure where this was going.

"Now, I know we've never had the position since you've been working here or even before then but I can't offer you head waitress since that's Eve's job so I've created one because you should, no, sorry, you deserve to be making more than a waitresses salary."

Barbie's heart raced as she began to process what it was that Wade was saying, he was not only going to give her a promotion but had created the position for her.

"I would like you to be my assistant manager and before you say anything you'll still be doing pretty much all of what you do now but you'd make more money and have more responsibility."

"I…I don't know what to say." The blonde admitted, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You say yes, thank you."

"Yes, thank you so much, Wade. I don't know how I can repay you for this." She laughed lightly, her mind still not really processing what had just happened.

"You keep doing what you're doing." He smiled before motioning for the door, "Oh and bring back all your shirts because I have some new ones for you that are slightly different." He smiled, "Now, go enjoy the rest of your night." He laughed motioning for the door.

The blonde smiled again before standing from her spot and giving him a quick hug, her nostrils filling with the scent of the outdoors and his Axe body wash before she left the room, all but skipping to her car.

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Sitting behind the large mahogany desk in his office, Randy Orton let out a sigh as he looked down at the stack of applications that he'd been handed when he'd walked in the door of his club, The Vipers Den, wondering just how it was he was going to select a new bartender. He currently had one but the raven haired man that was temporarily working behind the counter wasn't going to make it behind the bar for very long with his temper. While Cody had the looks and charm that it took, he was still extremely young and had the tendency to lose his cool far more easily than a bartender should and the last thing Randy needed was another investigation because of him.

The heavy beat from the music pulsing on the dance floor was easy to hear as was the various sounds that accompanied the club life. With his heightened hearing he could easily hear the sound of multiple conversations, the sound of glasses clinking together as people made toasts, the sound of laughter as well as a few people drunkenly crying and all of the other little sounds that no human would be able to hear. Shaking his head he allowed himself to tune the extra sounds out, a practice that only came with age, before turning his attention back to the many applications sitting in front of him as he decided to start the long processes of filtering out all the unqualified ones.

As he got to the twentieth application he smirked lightly at he read through the application, nodding in approval before setting it to the side, deciding that was where he would put all of the 'possible' applications. Grabbing the next one he looked at the still almost towering pile and realized that there were either a lot of people that had bartending experience in the area or a lot of people that wanted to work at his club. Though he'd already gone over at least twenty applications there still seemed to be just as many, if not more, left sitting in the pile all clearly hoping to be picked for the job and for the training that was promised.

The sound of heels clicking softly against the tiled floor outside his door and the scent of cinnamon and leather let him know that Brooke was heading his way and by the sound of her incoherent mumbling, she wasn't happy. The door was suddenly pushed open and the small brunette walked in, anger rolling off of her in waves as she looked at the blue eyed man, her eye twitching slightly. She closed her eyes let out an unnecessary breath, apparently calming herself before she spoke, and let out a low growl before opening her eyes and plastering a smile to her face.

"We're out of vodka."

"How?" Randy demanded, knowing that it was nearly impossible, he'd made sure that his club was always stocked with everything they could possibly need.

"I don't know. I'm not the bartender." She said rolling her eyes and placing a hand on her hip.

"Well, for right now you are." Randy smirked when she gave him a nasty look, "Go tell Cody you'll take over the bar for a little bit and send him back here."

The brunette narrowed her eyes at Randy once more before rolling her eyes and turning on her heel as she left the office, leaving the club owner to wonder just how it was that they'd run out of an alcoholic beverage at a bar. Granted, they usually went through at least one bottle a night, he always made sure that there were four extra in the back room that he made sure to stock every night. The only solutions that he could come up with were that Cody had been pouring more in the drinks he was making than the mixes called for, everybody in the building was drinking it or someone had been stealing from him, the last option produced a growl low in his throat at the thought.

"How much shit am I in?" The younger man asked as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him but making sure to leave it slightly cracked.

"That depends on how you explain a club of all places running out of an alcoholic beverage."

"Honestly, I have no idea. When I left there were four bottles sitting in the storage room and I brought two of them out to the bar. When I got here the place was so busy I didn't have time to do my usual bottle check so I only found out a few minutes ago. I used one tonight and the other three are…gone." The raven haired man frowned, his expression showing just how confused he was that three bottles could just disappear.

Randy nodded, trying to keep his anger in check before reaching into his back pocket for his wallet, "Here, go grab four bottles from the liquor store down the road. Use the change to get me another bottle of whiskey." He said, handing Cody two hundred dollar bills.

"Gotcha." The other man nodded before quickly walking out of the office and making sure to shut the door behind him.

At the sound of the door clicking into place Randy let the growl of rage he'd been holding back out and grabbed his tumbler of scotch from the table, throwing it against the wall and watching it explode into tiny pieces that rained down to the floor. He believed Cody's story which clearly meant that someone was stealing from him, something no one had done to him in a long time, no matter their species. His mind automatically ran through all of the possible suspects that he could think of, all of his enemies, before realizing that none of them were petty enough to steal from him, which meant that it had to be someone that he didn't consider a threat or simply someone who had been in desperate need of alcohol. Not that it mattered to him who did it, either way someone was going to pay for what they'd done.

After he'd calmed slightly he stood to clean the mess he'd made by throwing the glass at the wall, not wanting to end up being sued if he'd called someone into his office and they'd cut themselves on the glass. When he'd finished that task he brushed off his pants and made his way towards the dance floor where he knew that people had been more than likely expecting him to show himself for at least five minutes before he locked himself in the office for the rest of the night. As he was expecting as soon as people saw him they attempted to catch his attention but failed as he kept his icy stare ahead of him not paying the slightest bit of attention to the sweaty bodies and stumbling drunks. Sliding into his usual seat at the bar, one everyone seemed to know not to sit in, he nodded at Brooke who immediately set to work pouring him a double shot of whiskey on the rocks.

The soft swooshing sound of the door opening drew his attention and he turned to the sound, not surprised to see Cody walk in with two large paper bags in his arms looking far more dazed that Randy had ever seen him. His face was slightly drawn and his eyes wide, as he set the bags on the counter Randy noticed that they younger man's hands were trembling, something he'd never seen happen to Cody. He slid a glance towards Brooke who was looking at Cody with a slight frown but caught Randy's look and shrugged her shoulder before smirking and slapping the raven haired man in the back of the head with the towel that had been hanging over her shoulder.

"What was that for?" Cody asked, coming out of his daze as he shot a glare to the woman behind the bar.

"You were off in la-la land and I just thought I'd bring you back." The brunette smiled sweetly before preparing to make another drink.

"You looked like you saw a ghost, what happened?" Randy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing." The younger man said shaking his head as if he was trying to erase something from his mind like it was an etch-a-sketch, "Here's your whiskey and your change. I'm going to put the two extra bottles in the storage room and I'll get back to work." He said handing Randy a smaller bag that he pulled from one of the larger ones.

"Thanks. I'm going to head back to my office and finish going through these damn applications." Randy sighed, standing up and grabbing his drink in one hand and the paper bag in another before heading towards his office.

Two hours later and he was finally finished going through the large stack, having separated them into three different piles, one to look over again, one to keep on file and the last to simply shred and throw away. Walking over to the three filing cabinets under the window he opened the middle drawer of the middle filing cabinet and slipped the stack of applications that he'd decided to keep on file into it, not caring if they were alphabetical order since he knew that Brooke would go through all of his files by the end of the month and make sure that they were neat and orderly. Grabbing the other slightly smaller pile he grabbed his drink and decided to get Brooke and Cody's opinions on the matter since whomever it was that he ended up hiring would work more closely with them.

As he slid onto the bar stool he shook his head and reached behind the bar for the towel and disinfectant spray that he knew was there and quickly cleaned the spot, not wanting to end up with papers sticking to the bar, before he set the stack in his hand down. Glancing down the bar he saw that Brooke was busy mixing what looked to be a Bloody Mary and chatting with someone that Randy couldn't see and Cody was outside taking a smoke break. He waited for them to finish with what they were doing and called them over, handing them the stack and telling them to each pick out one application and then give him their choice by the end of the night.

"Oh, we actually get a say in who you hire?" Brooke asked sarcastically as she flipped through the papers with an eyebrow raised.

"You're the ones that will be training the person, figured I should let you have some sort of say in it. Don't get your hopes up though we all know I could just pick one at random." Randy smirked before standing and making his way behind the bar.

The sound of the door opening and the smell that accompanied it made the three turn to the door, each barely holding back the low growl that was threatening to break free as they realized who it was that had walked through the door. Before Cody or Brooke could say anything to him Randy had made his way to the door and grabbed the long blonde haired man by the shirt lifting him off the floor a few inches and glaring at him. He heard the commotion behind him but chose to ignore it as he kept his focus on the man who had dared to enter the club, the blonde man's face remained passive a smile on his face as he looked down at Randy.

"Is that anyway to greet a paying customer?" The blonde asked, pushing his hair out of his face, the fact that his feet weren't on the floor and that his shirt was more than likely choking him seeming to have no effect on him.

"Cut the shit, Adam. Why are you here?" It took everything Randy had not to growl the words.

"Business." Adam answered simply, the smile disappearing from his face as his expression turned serious, "And I think you're going to want to hear what I have to say. So, if you would so kindly return me to my feet."

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Yes, I know that was suspiciously similar to True Blood and while that is an influences, as is TVD, the story isn't going to be completely similar to them. They will have their likenesses but they will also be different. :) I promise.

Feedback is greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

So, I know it's been awhile but I had a seasonal job at Amazon and worked from 6:30pm to anywhere between 5 and 7am, which means if I wasn't working I was literally sleeping or eating and had absolutely no time for writing. Now, the season is over and I'm back to job hunting so hopefully that means I'll be updating more frequently. :)

Read and enjoy!

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**Chapter Two:  
Pulled From Assignment**

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Sitting behind his desk as he looked over the files that Adam had left him with Randy couldn't help but shake his head as his eyes took in the information the papers held, making him wonder what it was exactly they thought this woman was capable of. It didn't hold that information and as far as he could tell she was simply an everyday waitress who lived in a small town almost exactly on the border of Tennessee and Georgia and as far as their records showed, had a pretty normal life. She had lived in the same town for all of her life, graduated high school and gotten her business management degree at a community college in the city that was a short drive from where she lived. The fact that not only was The National Association or shortened to TNA apparently looking to draw her into their employment but so was Western Watch Enterprise also known as WWE, meant that there had to be something special about her.

He wasn't exactly sure why it was that he agreed to look over the file and then let McMahon, the Western Watch Enterprise's founder, know whether or not he was on board but he knew just how it was that their rivals worked. They were nothing like WWE and seemed to put a lot more stress onto their agents and when they found someone that they wanted in their ranks, they would do almost anything to get them and their way of doing so wasn't pleasant. The WWE was vastly different in that area simply promising a large amount of money and the opportunity to travel the world as their way of propositioning someone which is why he'd agreed to work for them twenty years ago and spent a third of that time enjoying it.

He'd retired after realizing that while he was considered one of the best, the life of chasing after criminals among the supernatural world was boringly repetitive and meant that he couldn't venture out into other areas of he had the slightest interest in. The money he'd made had been saved up reaching well past the nine digit rein, almost reaching ten and he hadn't even put a dent in it when he decided to open The Vipers Den which seemed to pay for itself every month. Yet somehow, here he was being promised another large sum of money simply to go to some small town and keep his eye on this woman until a meeting could be scheduled for her and one of the head honcho's of WWE to meet.

"You're seriously considering this?" Brooke asked as she walked into the office.

"Yeah." He shrugged as he looked down at the file again, "She's a human and has two of the world's largest supernatural enforcement agencies look at her. I'm more interested in what they want her for than the money."

"She's human?" Cody asked also stepping into the room and after a glance at the clock Randy realized that the club had closed a few minutes ago and it was close to dawn.

"That's what WWE's database has her listed as anyway."

"Is there a picture of her?"

Randy simply shook his head and debated whether or not to look one up online but quickly decided against it, not wanting her appearance to be one of the deciding factors in whether or not he took the job. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Adam had come to him of all people for this and couldn't help but wonder if his former partner had an ulterior motive for doing so. It was exactly the kind of mood that he would make too, giving Randy a case that would intrigue him only to have it blow up in Randy's face one way or for there to be some sort of catch to it. Randy was pretty sure that it was the latter judging by the large smile that had been on the blonde man's face.

"I wonder why Edge brought it to you." Brooke mumbled, her use of Adam's nickname surprising both men.

"I'm sure there is some catch to it." Randy frowned, still trying to figure out what it was or could be.

"Maybe but what if there's not?"

"Brooke, when in the last ten years has there not been a catch when it comes to anything involving Adam." Cody asked raising an eyebrow.

She opened her mouth but quickly shut it and shrugged her shoulder her eyes roaming over the file, "She lives here?"

"Rossville, technically but yes."

That was another piece of information that Randy found interesting, it was odd that she happened to live so close and while technically in a different town Chattanooga, Rossville and Fort Oglethorpe were all close enough to be one large city. The fact that they lived so close was just another thing to add to the reasons he was thinking about taking the offer, it meant he wouldn't have to do much traveling other than traveling to Connecticut to the Western Watch Enterprise Association. As far as he was concerned there had yet to be a reason that he shouldn't take the job and get the thrill of a 'retrieve and deliver' one more time other than the fact that it could be the McMahon family's way of pulling him back into the company.

"Oh." Cody frowned as he read over Brooke's shoulder.

"What?"

"Did you see where she works?"

"Some bar and grill."

"Barrett's Bar and Grill." Brooke corrected.

Randy snatched the file from her hand and narrowed his eyes over the piece of information that he'd simply glanced over, wondering how it was that he'd missed it. If there was anyone that he disliked more than Adam it was Wade Barrett and he couldn't help but wonder if this was why Adam had brought the offer to him. The blonde haired man knew of his dislike of the British man and vice versa, there wasn't exactly a definite reason for it, it was a mutual dislike that was simply in both men's nature, so to speak.

"She works for werewolf?" Cody asked, eyes widening as he realized that they were talking about Wade Barrett.

"You work for a vampire." Randy reminded the raven haired man who simply rolled his eyes and gestured to his own elongated canines.

"Different cases, I'm a vamp too."

Randy laughed lightly at the younger man who went back to reading over Brooke's shoulder, both appearing to read at preternatural speed as she flipped the page every few seconds. He had met Cody five years ago two days after Cody had been turned and the younger man had tried and failed to attack him. He'd brought him quite literally kicking and screaming back to his home and after a blood bond which hadn't been consensual, had claimed him as his protégé, which five years later both were happy to have had happened. Brooke hadn't been too happy with Randy preforming the ritual that would be known to other vampires but had said nothing to her maker, knowing that there wasn't anything she could do to change his mind and reverse it.

The two wished him luck on whatever he decided and told him they'd already cleaned up and to simply lock the door on the way out, which he couldn't help but roll his eyes at before gesturing for them to leave. After he'd heard the door in the lock slide closed he let out a breath before walking over to the small fridge he kept in the corner behind his desk and pulled out a small bag of blood, realizing he hadn't drank since the morning. He glanced at the window behind him and shook his head as he thought of the human's belief that vampires couldn't walk in the sun and laughed, knowing that it was a tale a vampire had created in order to make it harder for humans to believe they existed, the same went for crucifixes, garlic, coffins and mirrors.

He spent most of the night sipping on the bags of blood and trying to figure out whether or not he was going to take the case and finding his-self leaning more and more towards yes every time he asked himself if he was going to. At five o'clock in the morning he had called the main office in Connecticut and left a message for Vince letting him know that he would take the job and to e-mail him the rest of the information. He figured that picking her up and taking her to the headquarters would only take a few days and then he could collect his money, come home and then wipe his hands of the company and continue running his club.

He spent the rest of the day crunching numbers and ordering drinks, food and utensils for the club which only lasted until three hours before opening and he decided to see if his profile was still active on the WWE website. As he typed the web address into the search engine and wasn't surprised to find the plain black screen with a two input boxes and quickly typed his information into them, surprised when he was granted access. The only thing on the page however was a link titled Case BBFHH1 and he clicked it but was disappointed to find that it was simply the same information he already had giving him her background, friends and family, an address, where she worked and all the information he could possibly need about her car.

The sound of her phone ringing brought his attention away from the computer screen and he answered it without bothering to check the caller ID.

"Glad you decided to help us out with this one, Orton." Vince McMahon's voice greeted from the other end of the line.

"Well, this particular case intrigues me. What could you possibly want with a human waitress?" He asked though he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer.

Vince proved him right by saying, "Nothing much. Want to bring her in for questioning."

Recognizing the warning in his former employers voice Randy quickly changed the topic. "So, when do you want me to bring her to you? And how do you want me to go about it?"

"Well, I already sent someone out to try and collect her but he's a rookie… so I'll have to get back to you on that one. Although, since Jarrett has his best on this I would appreciate it if you'd look out for her and make sure that Gabriel doesn't screw this up and let them get to her."

"You got it. I think I'll head over to her place of work and see what Barrett is up to these days."

"Don't you go provoking him, Orton, last thing that I need is the two of you getting into it."

"I'll try not to." Randy sighed before ending the call.

Glancing at the time Randy realized that it was only seven o'clock giving him an hour to make a quick trip to his former co-worker's establishment to pay him a quick visit and hopefully catch a quick glimpse of the woman everyone was so interested in. Grabbing his jacket and keys he headed out to the parking lot to his 2011 Ford F-150 XLT, as he unlocked the large red truck he couldn't help but smile as he climbed in it. It was his favorite of his cars and was the only one with privacy tinted windows that let him see out but no one, human at least, see inside of it which he had a feeling was going to become very beneficial in the near future.

Pulling out of the parking lot he turned right and headed for Rossville and couldn't stop his mind from wondering toward the woman and who the rookie that Vince had assigned to her originally was. While he had made sure to steer clear of most things to do with the company he knew that Vince would never send a rookie out on a job like this unless he was purposely trying to throw his rival off with his actions. The more Randy thought about it the more it made sense to him, if Vince sent a rookie out to look over the woman it was more than likely a testament to show how badly it was that he wanted her, it would make Jeff Jarrett, the founder of TNA, think he wasn't really interested and Jeff in turn, hopefully, wouldn't send out his best.

Randy shook his head as he realized that, that was more than likely wishful thinking on his part.

Turning onto the busy street that the bar was located he couldn't help but wonder slightly if Barrett was in what was happening but quickly dismissed the thought reminding himself that if that was true Vince would have told him. Pulling into the parking lot of the establishment he found himself slightly surprised that it was one of the nicer buildings on the street and a large glowing neon above covered porch announcing what it was. Glancing around the parking lot he was slightly disappointed not to see the small sports car and realized that any hope he had of getting a glimpse of the mystery human was shot but still headed inside figuring that he could talk to Wade and maybe her co-workers to get a little more information on her.

* * *

The sound of the doorbell ringing brought Barbie from her rather pleasant dream, drawing a groan from her lips as she slipped out of her bed and made her way down the stairs after she'd realized that it was already twelve o'clock. All but stumbling down the stairs she let out a deep breath and bit her lip as she closed her eyes, debating on letting her shield down and listening to the thoughts of whoever was on the other side of the door. Shaking her head she reminded herself of the promise she'd made to herself about how she would only do so if she absolutely needed to and left her shield in place as made her way to the door, quickly opening it to reveal her brother.

"Got any food?" He asked, slipping past her and into the house making his way to the kitchen.

"Sure, come on it." She said rolling her eyes as she shut the door and followed him to the kitchen where he was rummaging through the cupboards, "What are you looking for?" She asked drawing his attention to her.

"Anything really since you seem to have nothing. How in the world are you eating when you don't have anything but Monster and protein bars?"

"I eat at work." She frowned folding her arms across her chest.

"You work the last shift. What do you eat for breakfast and lunch?" He asked and she could tell by the raise of his eyebrow he was challenging her.

She sighed in defeat and motioned toward the freezer where he quickly walked and pulled the door open before scoffing and ordering her to go change so that they could go grocery shopping before she could object he told her he wouldn't leave until she complied. Grumbling her way up the stairs about what a protective ass he was she made her way to her room and slipped out of the t-shirt and pajamas that she'd worn to bed. Changing into a pair of skinny jeans and her well-worn New England Patriots baby tee before sliding her feet into the black flip-flops closest to her she grabbed her purse before she headed down the stairs to her brother who was on the phone.

After a debate about which car they were taking Barbie had given up after the realization that if Ted drove it would save her some gas money and had climbed into his restored 1969 Camaro and wasn't the slightest bit surprised when he pulled out of her drive way in a wave of smoke and squealing tires. She had long become accustomed to his Dukes of Hazards way of driving and couldn't help but wonder why it was that he felt the need to drive like a maniac through the small town where he could easily be pulled over and given ticket after ticket. He never was though and she had a feeling that it had to do with the fact that back in high school he had led the football team to a state victory and in a small town no one seemed to forget it and somehow it gave him free reign of the town.

Pulling into the parking lot of the closest Bi-Lo she rolled her eyes and stepped out of the muscle car before Ted had shut off the engine in hopes that he would leave her to do the shopping and simply sit in the car and wait for her. The sound of him calling for her to slow down proved that her hopes had been just that, hopes, and he would more than likely stick to her side while she shopped and not allow her to pick up so much as one frozen meal. She grabbed a cart and stood of the side of the doorway as she waited for him to finish flirting with the redhead who was on break and rolled her eyes before pulling her phone out of her pocket and checking her Facebook.

Two hours later and almost four hundred dollars later, Ted's trunk and backseat were filled to the max with bags of groceries and a few other things that weren't so essential but she had decided that she wanted. While she had tried to convince Ted that she would only get a few things and then return later he hadn't let it happen, claiming that she would simply return home with bags full of more frozen meals. She'd rolled her eyes and mumbled that he was being to overprotective which had earned her a serious look and a reminder that if their parents couldn't watch over her and make sure that she was eating the way she should be, he was going to. It was rare to see him so serious so she simply nodded before turning back to the rows of canned vegetables and deciding what it was that she wanted and would actually use.

"You are going to help me put all of this up, right?" She asked after taking a sip of her Monster.

"Every time I've tried to help in the past you've yelled at me for not doing right."

"I can't help it if I want my kitchen organized." She defended as they got out of the car and made their way to the trunk to start unloading.

"There is a difference between organized and OCD." Her brother mumbled, earning him an awkward smack upside the as she grabbed a few bags.

"You can at least help me get all of this inside and talk to me while I put it away. Don't even try to make up an excuse as to why you can't. I know for a fact that you don't have to go in today." She smirked as she unlocked the door.

"If you make me lunch I'll take you up on that. Might even help you out with this fucking screen door if you're nice." He offered flinching as the hinges on said door squeaked loudly.

"You have a deal if you look at the sink in the downstairs bathroom." She smirked as she set the bags down. "This is going to take like fifteen trips." She sighed.

"Deal but it has to be a real meal not just some sandwiches or a frozen pizza. I'm thinking Chicken Alfredo."

"Well I guess you're lucky that that sounds _really_ good right now." She laughed as she grabbed a few more bags.

"You would have made it even if it didn't." He teased before ducking out of the way of the package of paper towels that she threw at him.

"Yeah and it would have had arsenic in it just for you big brother."

As she put away the massive amounts of food she couldn't help but smile the whole time regardless of the fact that Ted continued to tease her and realized that the two hadn't really talked and hung out the way they were since their parent's accident. It seemed like any time that they did make plans to hang out something came up for one of them whether it was her having to pick up someone's shift at work or him getting called into the office to deal with one of his legal cases. Still, when they didn't plan something and got to hang out it seemed to make up for the cancellations and usually ended with them watching movies or whatever sport was in season and having a few drinks.

When all of the groceries were put up she shifted her attention to the nonperishable items and smiled largely as she lifted her brand new Keurig coffee machine from the package and positioned it where her old coffee machine had been. She'd seen it at the store and drooled over it for a few minutes before letting out a deep sigh and turning to walk away when Ted had stopped her and simply slid the box into the cart. When she started to tell him she didn't have the money for it he'd rolled his eyes and told her to think of it as a random present and to shut up and either accept it or it was going back on the shelf. She'd quickly closed her mouth except to say thank you and gave him a large hug before heading to the cleaning supplies, a large smile planted firmly on her face for the remainder of their shopping trip.

"Plug that bad boy in and let's test it out." Ted said from his spot at the table.

"Two steps ahead of you." She laughed as she placed her favorite zebra print coffee mug in the designated spot and picked the breakfast blend K-cup from the assortment before popping it in and waiting for the machine to work its magic.

Three hours after Ted had left with his stomach full from the lunch that Barbie had cooked as promised the blonde was once again left on her own as she glanced around the living room and wondered if she shouldn't start looking for a roommate. The last time that she'd lived with someone had been when she and Justin had been together and now living alone just didn't feel right, she felt a lot better knowing that there was someone else in the house and simply having someone there made her feel a lot less lonely. Chewing on her bottom lip she wondered whether or not she should talk to Kaitlyn about it, knowing that since she'd gotten the house that while the other woman usually joked about it there was always a sense of seriousness in her tone about the two living together.

Glancing down at her phone she made herself a mental reminder to talk to the other woman about it as soon as she could.

* * *

Sitting in his apartment Justin Gabriel couldn't help but wonder when it was that his phone was going to ring, knowing that Vince would be on the other line to inform him that he'd done a great job keeping an eye on Barbie but they needed him somewhere else. It was something he wondered almost every day and couldn't believe that they'd left him alone for almost four years without having him doing another assignment that would require him being away for more than a night. While the thought of simply handing the job of watching over the blonde was one that he knew wasn't going to be easy, neither was saying goodbye to her, he wasn't naïve enough to believe that his watch dog position in the small town was going to last much longer than it had.

As he stood to take his plate over to the sink the sound of his phone vibrating across the table caught his attention and he let out a long sigh before dumping his dish in the sink and quickly answering the vibrating device, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Gabriel." He answered simply, already knowing who would be on the other side.

"How's everything been, man?" The sound of his former team member's voice questioned.

"Great. Just waiting for the call that'll pull me from this assignment." He shrugged before flopping into his favorite recliner.

"Wait no longer. Here's McMahon."

Not quite believing that Skip Sheffield or 'Ryback' was working so closely with the head of the Western Watch Enterprise, he made a mental note to call his friend personally and catch up with the mountain of a man. As he waited for Mr. McMahon to pick up the line he couldn't help his mind from wandering to where it was that he would be visiting next, he was hoping for somewhere tropic or at the very least warm weathered. Imagining himself in Hawaii he couldn't help the smile on his face from forming as he imagined himself and a beautiful Samoan woman on a secluded beach with very little on shaking his head when he heard his bosses greeting he quickly pushed that aside and focused on what the older man was saying.

By the time that Justin had ended the call he had all of the details about what his next mission would be as well as who would be taking over his position of watcher. While he wasn't thrilled to be moving across the country to play happy couple with AJ Lee, he was glad they would at least be in LA and that someone overly qualified would be taking his spot. Why it was that Randy Orton, a man that had retired a while ago was suddenly joining back on with WWE to simply provide a protection detail and to get her up to Connecticut. Shaking his head he pushed that aside as he realized that in the next twenty four hours he would have to inform his former team leader that he was being pulled and that the man replacing him was someone that Wade had a vast dislike for. That added to the fact that he would have to say goodbye to Barbie and the few people he actually considered friends made him sigh and shake his head before he turned off the television and lights and made his way towards his bed.


	3. Chapter 3

_Welp, new chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter Three:  
Chang in Plans**

* * *

Sitting at the dining room table the blonde looked blankly down at the cup of coffee in her hands and tried to remember why it was that she and Kaitlyn had decided to challenge each other in who could drink more before they threw up. The fact that she had won was a small consolation but didn't help with the fact that she now had a hangover bigger than Texas and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep for the next month. The slightest of sounds made her head pound and even the minimal amount of sunlight that was making its way between the blinds made her eyes hurt more than she thought was possible.

Taking a long sip of the hot liquid the blonde tried to think back to what all the two had gotten into but couldn't make it past going to Electric Cowboy and dancing the night away and based on how much alcohol she knew she drank she hoped that it had been limited to dancing. Cringing she shook her head and let out a sigh because she knew that when she drank she tended to get a little friendly and couldn't recall one time that she had gotten drunk and not at least kissed someone. The thought of kissing seemed to bring a face floating to her mind through the murkiness and while the details were a bit fuzzy she could remember a pair of green eyes and blonde hair but that was it, meaning she'd have to ask Kaitlyn if she remembered anything. Barbie highly doubted it though.

Letting out a groan the blonde finished her coffee and pushed herself up, immediately regretting as the legs of the chair squeaked across the linoleum floor and made her way towards the stairs. Passing by the mirror in the hall upstairs she caught a glimpse of herself and shook her head, she looked as bad if not worse then she felt and was glad she'd be taking a shower. She was still in the previous night's short blue dress and her hair which had been perfectly styled now resembled a crow's nest that she knew would take forever to comb out.

"Never again." She mumbled to herself as she peeled the dress and her underwear off before stepping into the already steaming shower.

Two hours and a very greasy hamburger later and she felt almost good as new, except for the fact that she couldn't help but feel like something was going to happen in the next two days that she wasn't going to like in the slightest. Shaking her head at herself she got in her car and headed to her work to pick up her check and frowned at the thought of having to pay bills for the rest of the day, thankful that most of them could be paid over the internet. Still, knowing the fact that more than half of her check was already dedicated to bills put a damper on her mood as she looked down at her hands which were in definite need of a manicure.

"Hey, Barbie girl!" The sound of Janice Cena's voice called from the end of the bar.

The blonde smiled at the older woman and motioned she'd be right back before hurrying to the back and quickly putting the combination into her locker before grabbing the check Wade had stuffed in it earlier and making her way to the floor. It wasn't often that Janice was out since John had disappeared four years ago but now that she was and seemingly in a better mood than she'd been in that time Barbie definitely wanted to know what was up. John had been Ted's best friend in high school and had been around enough that he'd become like a big brother to her too so when news broke that he was gone but all of his belongings had been left behind, her heart had broken.

"How are you?" Barbie asked once she'd gotten close enough that she didn't have to yell.

"I'm good, really good. Why don't you sit down so we can talk? Do you want anything?"

"No thank you, I already ate."

"Oh well, still, sit down so we can catch up. I haven't talked to you in forever, what's going on? I hear you finally got a promotion."

"I did. I'm assistant manager as of two days ago but that's about all that's new with me. What about you? You look awfully happy."

"I am. I've realized that me being down and locked away all of the time isn't going to do anyone any good and it's putting a strain on my marriage. So I'm doing things that make me happy and that remind me of all the good qualities of Jr." She smiled.

"That's good. I'm really glad to hear that you're doing better." The blonde smiled sincerely.

"Me too. But I'll let you go, I can tell that you were in a rush when you came in."

"Just a little, I'll catch up with you soon." She smiled before grabbing her purse and keys, giving the older woman an awkward hug before making her way toward the exit.

By the time she was finished running her errands she had just enough time to stop by her house and take a quick shower before she had to head into work and start her first day as assistant manager, which she still couldn't quite believe. She quickly made her way back to her house and made herself a quick lunch before all but running up the stairs, stripping her clothes off in the process so that she could take a slightly longer shower than she'd planned. Thirty minutes later she was walking into the bar, her eyes automatically going towards the kitchen, expecting to see Justin but was surprised to see a stranger and she couldn't help but wonder where the South African was. He never got sick and she was pretty sure he'd never taken a single day off in all the time that they'd worked together.

"I hate you." Kaitlyn said as she walked into the locker room.

"Well, it's mutual." The blonde nodded before pulling out her apron, "Hey, do you know where Justin is?" She asked turning to face her friend.

"You mean he didn't tell you?" The other woman asked, her forehead wrinkling.

"Tell me what?"

"Apparently he got some job in New York and had to leave ASAP, or something like that." She shrugged tying her own apron around her hips.

"Hmm. Is Wade here?"

"In his hide-out."

Barbie nodded before closing her locker and making her way toward her boss' office, wondering exactly what it was that had happened because she knew that even if they weren't on the best of terms, there was no way Justin would just leave without saying anything to her. The closer she got towards his office the more she wondered if she should perform what she liked to call her personal lie detector test but quickly decided against it when she remembered that Wade Barrett was one of the few people that she couldn't 'read'. Still, she wanted something of an explanation and though he probably wouldn't be completely and totally honest, Wade would be the one to give her the straightest answer that she was going to get.

After a brief conversation that blonde learned that right after opening Justin had come in and told Wade that he'd gotten a job offer that he simply couldn't pass up and would have to leave first thing the next morning. Not sure how to feel about the fact that Justin had apparently just up and left without saying anything to the blonde she clocked in and briefly wondered if the slight process she thought she'd made with her ex was in her mind. Sure, they were only at the point that they would wave or nod at each other in acknowledgement but it was far from the complete avoidance that they'd practice so well on the other and she'd really been hoping to gain his friendship back.

Shaking her head she turned to make her way out the door but was stopped when Wade called her.

"Yeah?" She asked stepping back into the office with an eyebrow raised.

"I have to leave later and go take care of some…business. Think you could watch over the place while I'm gone?" He asked with a slight smirk on his face.

"I don't know it's not like I've ever done it before." She replied sarcastically with an eye roll and smile.

"Thought so," He chuckled shaking his head, "I'm going to leave at seven and should be back by nine or ten."

"Can I ask what this business is?" Barbie asked with a small frown.

For the last month or so it seemed like her boss left his bar to go attend to 'business' and she had a feeling that it had nothing to do with an actual one since he always came back and was in a bad mood. Not to mention that in the past few weeks he'd been called away more and more, sometimes not returning to work until the place was almost closed and his hair, which was always perfectly styled, was disarrayed like he'd either been in a fight or had run his hand through it several time. It wasn't her business about where he went but if he was in trouble she wanted to know and try and help him in any way that she could, if she could.

He looked up at her and shook his head before letting out a long sigh and sitting behind his desk, running his hands through his hair.

"It's nothing. Just that an old…friend," He seemed to cringe at the word, "stopped by the other night and gave me some disturbing news is all." When she looked at him unconvinced he shook his head and smiled. "If it gets to be something I can't handle on my own, I'll let you know."

Realizing that it was the most information she was going to get out of him, for now at least, she nodded, "Alright, I'll drop it if you make that a promise."

"Trust me, I do."

She smiled and nodded, not missing the fact that there seemed to be something more to the words and just how it was that he spoke them, like he was promising something more but she let it go and left the large man to his thoughts. She had a job to do and no matter how much it was that she wanted to sit there and drill him for more information, she knew she wasn't going to get any and she had bills to pay. Walking past the kitchen she saw the new chef and wondered just why it was that she had the nagging feeling that Wade's 'business' and Justin's sudden disappearance had something to do with each other.

* * *

Sitting in the large conference room of the Marriott in Chattanooga Randy Orton couldn't help but wonder what it was that was happening that was so important that Vince found it necessary to fly down to Chattanooga. He knew that it couldn't possibly be good and had heard some rumblings that Jeff Jarrett had assembled a team recently and that they were working on 'procuring' something not far from Barbara's home and while he was curious, he hadn't had the chance to check it out yet. He wanted to do it not long after he'd stopped by Barrett's Bar but he'd quickly gotten pulled away when Brooke had called and explained that once again, Adam had showed up at the bar with yet another stack of papers about the blonde woman Randy had yet to meet.

He glanced around the table and quickly realized that the people sitting around the table were ones that he knew unbelievably well considering that they had all worked together at one point or another on cases that were bigger and smaller than this one. Considering the fact that each of the five men around him had been in the business long enough to have seen things that he knew would scar anyone else he wondered briefly exactly how big this thing was going to get. A few days ago it had seemed like a simple job of getting the blonde to headquarters and protecting her on the trip and then going back to his club and forgetting the whole thing had even happened.

"Alright." Vince said as he walked in, a serious look on his face. "I thought this was going to be a lot easier than it appears that it's going to be much more delicate and harder than I had originally thought." The older man sighed as he glanced around at them.

Randy glanced around and noticed that Wade, John and Adam, the new 'team' were all staring at the boss with blank faces as they had been trained so well to do as they waited for more information and couldn't help but be grateful that they were who he'd be working with. Wade had known Barbara for a long time and could do the best job out of them all of keeping an eye out for her, John was the kind of man, or vampire, that anyone could easily come to love and had cryptically mentioned that he knew the blonde as well, or had and Adam, was the an expert at surveillance and keeping his ear to the ground and collecting as well as sorting all of the information he heard and had a knack for separating the gossip for the truth. Randy hadn't been positive where he'd fit into the mission until he realized who his partners were and that his job was to simply get her from point A to B safely and hopefully not get caught or held up by one of the TNA employees.

"I was recently informed that Jarrett already has a few men that have already gathered more on the targets past than we've even thought of. This means that they are already a few steps ahead of us and from the chatter I've heard will be ready to grab her any day now. So, I need you keeping a tighter watch on her, Adam. Wade, I also need you to make sure that when she's at your establishment that she is never too far out of your sight, make her work longer shifts if you can. John, I'm going to need you to reveal herself to her soon or just follow her discreetly as you can."

After finishing with the three other men, Vince turned to Randy and took a deep breath before making sure to look at the younger vampire directly in his eyes to convey how serious he was, "Randy, I'm going to need you to introduce yourself to her. Do whatever it takes to get her to trust you, tell her the truth if you have to, just do it."

The meeting quickly concluded after the boss made his point, leaving the four men to figure out the details of how exactly it was that two vampires and two werewolves were going to manage to watch the telepathic blonde around the clock. They quickly came to the agreement that while she was working Wade would look after her, when she got off well after dark Randy would take over while he worked his way into her life, for the rest of the time that it was dark John would take over before letting Adam take the last shift of the night. To Adam and Randy, the two that had no idea as to who the blonde was other than someone that Vince had an obvious interest in keeping safe it seemed like a lot to do but said nothing about, both looking forward to the paycheck that they would get in the end.

"So, you know this woman?" Randy asked John as they made their way through the halls of the hotel toward their light proof rooms on the first floor.

"Barbie?" John asked referring to her nickname before nodding with a dimpled smile, "Yeah, she's pretty great. Never would have guessed that she was someone that was worth…." He sighed apparently looking for the right word, "All of this." He shrugged.

"How'd you know her?" Randy asked.

"We met in high school and were pretty close until I…changed." The shorter man shrugged before a smile pulled at his lips, "She was always the 'good girl' but she definitely knew how to party." He chuckled.

Randy nodded and was reminded of what Wade had told her about the woman, she was all business at work and could take care of nearly any problem that the British man threw at her but she was also known to sit on the other side of the bar. While she was on shift she was unbelievably professional and never stepped so much as a toenail out of line while she was on the clock but if she signed out, she was known to party. Wade had laughed as he told Randy the story about the time she'd sat at the bar and ordered shot after shot, getting him to play music that she could 'dance' to and had ended up doing so on the bar more than once. It was perfectly clear to Randy that anyone who talked about her seemed to have a certain fondness for her that even if they didn't admit it, showed in their eyes.

"So, what am I supposed to expect when I met her?"

John looked at him in silence for a few minutes before speaking, "Sweet, bubbly and smiling." He answered with a smile.

"Really?"

"Pretty much, even if she's in a bad mood and you're a complete stranger, she'll either forget about her mood or push it aside for later, and smile and make small talk with you."

Randy nodded before glancing at his watch and letting out a sigh before telling John that he needed to get going and would more than likely seem him in a few days as he hoped in his truck and made his way to the club. His mind on the woman that he had yet to meet that almost everyone else that was on his 'team' already had and he couldn't deny the fact that the more that he learned about her the more he was more interested in meeting her. From the sounds of it she was completely different from the Enterprises usual targets and he found himself wondering more and more why it was that they seemed to want her so badly. He knew that it was more than simply protecting her from Jeff Jarrett and his group of apes.

The sound of his phone ringing pulled him from his thoughts and he rolled his eyes at the name on the screen before accepting the call.

"What do you want?" He asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"I was going to ask if I could stop by tonight…"

Randy rolled his eyes at the sound of the smirk in her voice and shook his head, "I don't have time." He answered simply.

"Baby, we both know that you can make time and I know that there is no way that you are saying no to _me._"

"I am actually. I have too much to do tonight and you're getting a little…repetitive." He answered honestly with an eye roll as he pulled into his parking spot behind The Vipers Den.

"The only thing repetitive about me is the fact that I can repeatedly get you going."

"I don't have time for this. Bye."

He knew it was a harsh way to end the call but the woman on the other end of the line had started boring him not a week ago and if there was one thing that pushed him away it was when there was nothing new to do with a woman. There had been many before her that he'd simply ended casual sex relationships with and there were many after that were going to suffer the same fate and he couldn't even pretend to feel bad about it. In his fifty years of existence as a vampire the one thing that he had always kept constant in his life was being honest with the women that he had any kind of relationship from fellow vampires to the woman he chose to have sex with and that wasn't going to change.

As he walked into his club he could hear Brooke and Cody arguing in his office and rolled his eyes as he moved to the bar to pour himself a drink, deciding that whatever it was they were arguing about could wait a few minutes. Taking a swig of the drink that even he could admit burned his throat a little he shook his head and turned his attention to the various bottle behind and under the bar, not wanting a repeat of the previous week. By the time he was sure everything was in stock Brooke and Cody had finally made their way to where he was, Cody with a smug look on his face and Brooke looking like she wanted to kill her raven haired co-worker.

"Spit it out." He sighed as he leaned against the bar.

"Well, um, so we called the girl that you picked to be the new bartender but…um, Jeff Hardy answered her phone."

The club owner frowned at the name that sounded familiar but be couldn't place and did a mental jog through the various names that he knew before narrowing his eyes and slamming his glass on the bar surface as he remembered the rainbow haired man. He had worked on many assignments with him in his earlier years at WWE before he'd been busted for using targets for his sick fetish and then disappearing. Years later Randy had come across him and learned the man was working for TNA, trying to get Randy to join him saying how great it was and how much leniency Jeff Jarrett gave them when it came to procuring their targets. There was no denying that the shape shifter was disturbed, much like his brother and had a tendency to wear face paint, all day, every day, no matter what he was doing.

"What else?" He asked with a sigh, having a feeling that she wasn't finished.

"Uh, Candice, the girl whose phone he answered, is Barbie's cousin."

"Fucking great." He ground out through clenched teeth as he closed his eyes.

It was clear that the plans he had for meeting Barbara were no longer in effect and he was going to have to do this much more quickly.

* * *

_Guesses as to who Randy was on the phone with? ;) Any who, who's ready for Randy and Kelly to meet?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:  
Meeting You**

* * *

While it hadn't been in his plans Randy knew that there was no way that he could keep the information he'd learned the previous night to himself and was thankful that Vince was still in the small city and had agreed to meet where they had the previous day. The boss had simply said that he would call the rest of the group and that they would meet him where they had the previous night and then he could explain what was going on. While Randy had been surprised that Vince hadn't asked for any details or for him to explain he knew that the man trusted him and that if there was something he wanted to share he knew that the vampire would do just that.

He sat in the conference room as he waited for the others to join and tried to figure out exactly how it was that he was going to not only get himself in place to meet Barbara but to figure out just what it was that Jeff Hardy was up to. At this point he could only think of two options that would work, he could go to Barrett's bar and pretend to be a customer or he could find himself outside of her home with a flat tire and ask to use her phone. Either way both 'plans' were definite in getting him to speak to her he just wasn't sure exactly where it was that he would go from there, it wasn't like he could sit her down and explain the story without her freaking out and thinking he was insane.

The sound of the door opening pulled him from his thoughts and he turned to watch everyone file in and let out a soft sigh as he realized that he was going to have to tell two people who clearly cared about the woman, that she was now actually in danger. Nodding at Vince who said nothing and took a seat, which everyone noticed wasn't his usual at the head of the table, he said nothing and put his elbows on the desk and interlaced his fingers. It was a sign that Randy had long ago learned to mean that he wasn't going to interrupt or say anything until the person who was speaking was completely finished.

"Okay, last night I had one of my…assistants call the person that I had selected for the job to come in for an interview." He began slowly, taking turn to look each of the men in the face, "Except that the woman didn't answer the phone. Jeff Hardy, however did."

"Who?" Wade asked raising an eyebrow.

"He used to work for me. He was a little…disturbed so I let him go and he ran to TNA with his tail between his legs."

"The woman I was hoping to hire and whose phone he answered, is Barbara's cousin." Randy said before Wade could ask why it mattered.

"Are we sure that he knows that they're related and that he and this person aren't just…enjoying each other's company?" Adam asked from his seat.

Randy turned his attention to him, briefly noticing that he'd gotten a haircut, and shrugged, "I have no idea."

"This means that we all have to tighten up and move more quickly than we had originally planned. Randy, if you're going to make you're move, do it within the next week." Vince said as he stood from his spot and started pacing, "Barrett and Copeland, you're going to have to keep her under even tighter surveillance, which means that you need to be at your establishment whenever she is, Wade. John, I need you to go over to Candice's and find out exactly what it is that's going on. I'm going to make a few calls and see if I can't get a few more people on board."

"I'm pretty sure that I could Cody to help us out and maybe even another one of my...older friends if I can reach him." Randy added.

"Good. Work on that, just don't forget that but for now, our only job is to insure that Miss Blank isn't harmed or taken by TNA." Vince said, making sure to look each man in the eye, a warning clear in them.

After promising to stay in contact and let him know if anything else happened Vince let them go, though he was still pacing and mumbling to himself as they left the building. The four 'teammates' knew that even while he wouldn't say anything the silver haired man wasn't happy in the slightest and hated being bested by Jeff Jarrett more than anything. The two had been rivals for as long as Randy could remember and he knew that it wasn't just the businesses that were at war with one another, the men running them couldn't stand the other on a personal level.

"Want to meet Barbie tonight?" Wade asked as he caught up to Randy, the question making the vampire freeze.

Twenty minutes later, after stopping of at his club to let Brooke and Cody know he'd be gone for a few hours, Randy found himself pulling into the parking lot of Barrett's Bar and Grill as he prepared himself to meet the woman. He's been surprised by Wade's suggestion but figured that now was a better time than ever if he wanted to finally see what she looked like so that he could keep an eye out for her. Stepping out of his truck he did his best to ignore the sudden onslaught of wet dog that ambushed his nostrils and instead tried to focus on the smell of vanilla and lavender that was just as strong as the wet dog smell.

Stepping into the establishment he glanced around and realized that the place wasn't nearly as disgusting as he would have thought it would have been, in fact, it was just the opposite and he found himself impressed. Glancing up he looked around for any woman who could possibly be Barbara but let out a sigh as he realized that he had absolutely no details about her, not even her hair color. When the smell he'd first been greeted by in the parking lot became even more empowering he glanced up to see that large raven haired man walking toward him with a smirk on his face.

"We'll talk in my office. Barbie's on her break but has to come in, in order to clock back in."

Randy simply nodded and glanced around once again, "Pretty nice place you have here, Barrett."

"Thanks." The other man nodded before gesturing for Randy to follow him into the back room.

To say that it was an awkward situation was a bit of an understatement, they hadn't forgotten their distaste for each other but had seemingly wordlessly and without either man's knowledge come to a silent truce. The situation they were currently in, looking after the woman, was more important than their dislike of one another and even if Randy didn't know the woman it was clear that Wade cared about her. It was odd to go from hating and distrusting someone to suddenly having to be civil and trustworthy but it was something that both Randy and Wade couldn't help but to do while they were working together.

"Wade! We need to order some more coffee cups and beer glasses." The soft voice called out and both men could hear the sound of sneakers against the tiled floor as the woman who was speaking made her way toward the office.

The door to the office, which had been left slightly ajar opened all of the way and while it did Wade had whispered, in a tone only Randy would be able to hear, that he was about to me the woman that had been the reason for him to temporarily join the WWE once again.

As she stepped into the room, continuing to question Wade about things they needed and when he wanted her to have them ordered by Randy couldn't help but stare at the woman as she stood in front of him, completely oblivious to his presence. There was no denying that fact that she was beautiful, her long blonde hair fell in loose waves and reached the middle of her back, her eyes, a slightly lighter shade than his own were warm and playful and her glossed lips were just pouty enough to add to her attractiveness. Moving past her face his eyes traveled down her body, a smooth collar bone led to a pair of ample breasts that most women had plastic surgery to get; her stomach was completely flat and gave away to a pair of long tanned legs that men no doubt dreamt about having wrapped around them. The woman was the perfect combination of sexy and beautiful.

"If you're done," Wade chuckled, "I'd like to introduce you to my friend."

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise and he couldn't help but laugh softly as he face turned a beautiful shade of pink, indicating her embarrassment.

"Barbie I'd like you to meet Randy Orton, the friend that's been pulling me away from work to help with his club. Randy, this is my assistant manager, Barbie Blank."

"Nice to meet you." The blonde smiled widely at him, though she was looking at him oddly.

"You too."

"He's going to be around for a bit while we come up with some ways to make a few more dollars for his business." Wade lied smoothly and Randy couldn't help but smirk at the British man's quick thinking that had just made making Randy a part of Barbie's everyday life a lot easier.

"Oh, okay." She nodded before running her eyes over Randy, the same way he'd done to her a few moments ago before turning to face her boss, "So, when do I need to have these things ordered? I'm guessing soon since Janice and John senior are having their anniversary party here Saturday."

* * *

Sitting on her bed Barbie couldn't help but think about the tattooed man that she'd met the previous night, there was no doubt that he was attractive but that had little to do with why he was on her mind. She had briefly used her _gift,_ as her friends and family had taken to calling it, and tried to take a quick peek into his mind but couldn't hear anything, it was as if there was absolutely nothing there. She'd never experienced anything like it, she always heard something when she _listened_ to someone whether they were coherent thoughts or not and the fact that this man was a blank intrigued her more than she'd ever been in the past by almost anyone.

The sound of her phone ringing pulled her from her thoughts and she grabbed it from her nightstand, answering without looking at the caller ID the way she always did.

"Hello?"

"So, I have a question." Ted's voice greeted her as he bypassed the politeness of returning a greeting.

"Well, hello big brother. I'm fine. How are you?" She replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, so I have an idea."

"Uh-oh."

"Shut up. What do you think about having a Fourth of July party at your place?"

"Um…why my place?" She asked though she knew the answer before he said anything.

"Because it's perfect for a party place with the backyard and deck."

"Yeah, I know. I meant the real reason." She answered with an eye roll, "And don't give me that I'll tell you if it works out line, either." She said quickly cutting off whatever her brother was going to answer.

"Okay, it's like this. I know that you know that I've been…watching Kaitlyn for a little while."

"If you think I am going to help you love and leave _my best friend…_." She warned.

"Thing is, I don't want to do that. I actually want to get her know her as…not my little sisters best friend." He admitted softly and Barbie couldn't help but smile widely.

"You _like_ her!"

"Yeah, well…"

"Alright. We'll have the party here. I'll even get some info for you."

"What? Really?" Rolling her eyes at the disbelief in her brother's tone she let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I know that she tends to look at you a little longer than is appropriate and…I know how you are when you actually like someone." She said softly before perking up, "Besides, it would be awesome if my best friend became my sister." She teased.

"Whoa, I'm just now admitting to liking her. I think you may be jumping the gun, by light years."

"We'll see." She smirked.

She spent the next ten minutes informing him of the conditions of having the party at her house which including him being the one to man the grill and a promise that he would help clean whatever mess it was that the partiers made. While she knew that her friends were usually all mostly neat people it was a totally different story when they were drunk and considering that it would be the fourth and fireworks were more than likely going to be left in the yard she wasn't willing to take on the chore of cleaning by herself. By the time that she hung up the phone she couldn't help but be excited and was more than ready to play matchmaker between her brother and best friend since she'd been hoping they'd come to their senses and get together for a while.

She had known that they had a crush on each other for a while, both from _hearing_ it and from the fact that she knew them both so well but also knew they were hesitate to make a move because of her. She found it ridiculous but didn't say anything and decided to patiently wait for them to come to their senses and realize what good they could do for each other. She hadn't expected it to take a year but she couldn't deny the fact that at least it was finally happening and she had a feeling that it would quickly evolve into a serious relationship.

Walking downstairs she came to the sudden realization that in the two years since her parents had died she had yet to really make the house her own and hadn't so much as moved a picture frame of what had been there. Sitting down on the old worn sofa she glanced around and realized that she had put off what she considered the last stage of letting them go and that it was more than past time that she did so. With a deep breath she slowly looked around the room and decided that if the house was ever going to truly be hers, she was going to have to make it that way, which meant redecorating everything. It would be costly, without a doubt, but she still had the large trust fund that her grandparents had left which her parents had added to when they had died and left her with a _very_ soft cushion to fall on if she needed.

Glancing at the time she realized that she needed to get to work to start on the preparations for the Cena's anniversary party which she wanted to go off without a hitch since the two definitely deserved it after everything. Standing she made her way up the stairs, deciding that she'd take a shower when she came back to the house to get ready for the party which she would be attending as a guest and threw on her shorts and work shirt before grabbing her keys and purse. Locking the door behind her she glanced around as she walked toward her car, trying to shake off the feeling of being watched, as she lowered her shield and did a quick scan but found nothing. Rolling her eyes to herself she climbed in her car backed out slowly, glancing in the trees as she did so and finding a pair of cat-like eyes watching her.

Walking into the Barrett's she let out a deep breath and tried to push the thought of glowing green eyes out of her mind, telling herself it was simply a cat, and hurried to put her purse up, leaving it in the office since she didn't plan on staying long. She quickly clocked in, which Wade had demanded she do even though she'd only be there for a few hours, before making her way out to the dining room where her former employees were already gathered. Sliding in next to Kaitlyn she smiled brightly and the two quickly chatted about the recent events on their favorite television show before turning to Wade when he commanded attention and gave them all instructions on what it was they were supposed to do.

"So, I'm having a Fourth of July party at my house." Barbie said as she and the blonde-brunette put light blue table clothes over all picnic tables in the back where the Cena's had all but demanded the party take place.

"Finally, I don't understand why you don't have more. It's such a perfect party house."

"Yeah, that's how Ted convinced me to do it but it'll be the only one for a while. I finally realized that I need to redecorate and make it _my _house. Not my parents."

"That's good. If you need any help, you know where to find me."

"Actually…I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Well, ask." Kaitlyn laughed as the moved on to the next table after making sure the cloth was secure.

"Well, you know how we're always going about moving in together? I was thinking and it's not such a bad idea…so, do you want to? I mean, you don't have to say yes. I just get like really lonely sometimes and I've always hated living by myself. Not to mention-"

"Yes." Kaitlyn said cutting of Barbie's rambling.

"Great!" The blonde smiled, "We should wait till I get everything redecorated though, that way you'll have time to make plans with what you want where and what to do with your apartment."

"True."

After making plans with her friend and finishing what she was told to do the blonde headed back to her house to get ready for the party and couldn't help her excitement at finally seeing the older couple out and about again. John's disappearance had hit the family hard and it had taken them all a long time to either accept that he, apparently, wasn't coming back or learn how to function with it as best they could. Barbie was pretty sure that this would be the first public event in town that their family of four would all be attending but the more she thought about it the more a sense of dread started to build in her gut.

She couldn't deny that she had a feeling that this party wasn't going to turn out as great as she was hoping it would.

* * *

_Eh, Barbie kinda seemed to just push past Randy there huh? But remember, she was working so she couldn't stand there and simply gawk at him like we would. Next chapter will have Barbie and Randy running into each other and maybe someone making a revelation about what they are. ;)_

_Constructive criticism is always welcomed._


	5. Chapter 5

_Okay, sorry it's been so long since I've last posted but I'm back to working 3rd shift only this time instead of standing in one spot for 10 hours, I walk about 30 miles a night while picking orders for Amazon customers. So not only do I write for you I help you get your purchases, that makes up for my lack of writing right? But anyways, I'm on a small break so I thought I'd update while I have the chance. Also, thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them sooo much!_

_Read, enjoy and possibly review?_

* * *

**Chapter Five:  
Meeting Again**

* * *

Sitting at one of the picnic tables that she had helped prepare earlier that day Barbie watched as Janice and John Senior swayed to the music on the grass that they had improvised for a dance floor and couldn't help but smile at the couple. They had always had their anniversary parties at Barrett's, no matter what the weather, but the last three years that had respectfully declined when Wade or herself had called and offered that business would come to a halt if they wanted to pick up the tradition. The fact that they, _themselves_ had called and asked if the offer from the previous year's still stood made Barbie believe that they were truly beginning to heal or were at least trying to and she couldn't grudge them for taking so long after all, she was only now really letting her parents go. Biting her lips she took a deep breath before dropping her shields and quickly scanned the thoughts of those at her party and smiled when she came to the conclusion that not only was everyone having fun but that they were happy for the older couple.

Standing up the blonde made her way over toward the row of coolers that had been set up and fished another cherry coke from the water and ice and shook it slightly before heading over to where her brother and Matt Cena, Janice and Senior's youngest son, were talking. She frowned when she noticed that they had suddenly clammed up when they noticed her and couldn't help the feeling that they were talking about her or something they didn't want her to know about. Pushing the thought to the side she quickly changed the topic and resisted the urge to _listen_ to them and asked how Matt was liking college and if his school had any good parties.

They talked for a few minutes before Matt excused himself, saying that he had a test bright and early and walked over to his parents who gave him a quick hug. After he left Barbie let Ted know that she would talk to her friend the next night when they met the next day for lunch and promised to be subtle about her attempts at matchmaker. Her brother laughed, knowing that she meant she would do what all girls did when they found out a mutual friend had a crush on another mutual friend and told the blonde that much to which she simply rolled her eyes at.

"Don't judge. You've seen my skills at pairing people up." She smiled as she looked pointedly towards Mickie and Dave who were swaying softly to the music with eyes only for each other.

"I don't know if you can exactly take the claim on that one."

"Please, who was it who finally got Dave to give her a chance? And who was it, dear big brother, that encouraged Mickie _not _to accept his act?"

"Okay, fine. You win." He sighed with an eye roll.

"Don't I always?" She smiled innocently.

"Well, if you do this for me, I won't doubt your talents ever again."

"You say this as if it's going to be difficult." She scoffed shaking her head before excusing herself when Wade motioned her over, giving Ted a look she couldn't quite read over her head.

As she headed in the large raven haired man's direction she looked around and noticed that everything seemed to be going perfectly smoothly, despite her earlier feelings. The area in the back of the bar was filled with music, laughter and conversations that were completely light and carefree which seemed to make everyone smile more than they had. Turning her attention to the couple of honor her smile widened as she watched them sitting next to each other at a picnic table laughing and giggling as if they were teenagers.

"What's up?" She asked her boss as she got closer.

"I was just wondering if you could go over some things with Randy tomorrow night when he gets here."

"Sure, no problem." She shrugged as she thought of it as the perfect chance to find out exactly why it was that she couldn't _hear_ him, "What exactly did you want me to go over?"

"He has a few things that I was a little distracted with this to really pay attention."

"Can't blame you there." The blonde laughed.

The rest of the party continued on smoothly until someone mentioned that they thought they'd seen John in the nearby town of Dalton which had led to Janice being inconsolable and John Sr. having to all put drag her to the car. It had effectively ended the party two hours before planned and after requesting that everyone leave Barbie helped move the gifts inside so that they wouldn't be stolen or ruined by the weather. As she tried to help clean up Wade had all but demanded that she go home and she didn't put up much of a fight when she realized just how exactly tired that she was. By the time she got home she was too tired to do much more than pull off her clothes and crawl into bed where she almost immediately passed out.

When she woke up the next morning she checked her phone and was slightly surprised to find a text from Wade telling her that she didn't have to come in until seven unless she absolutely wanted too. She was more than grateful and sent a text to her boss to thank him, she was still a little worn out from the previous night and the fact that she had continually thought about John that night hadn't helped any. Ever since the woman at the party had mentioned him she couldn't seem to get him off of her mind and she wanted nothing more than to head to Dalton to investigate but decided against it and decided to start her re-design of her home.

She decided to start easy and pulled out the stack of boxes that she kept in the attic, they were –unsurprisingly- incredibly dusty after spending a little over two years in the attic and she quickly dusted the off before bringing them to the master bedroom. After quickly building a few she set them on the bed and began the process of putting her parent's clothes and other items into them, including their bedspread, before carrying the boxes to the attic. By the time she finished it was only one o'clock and she began the process of moving her own belongings from her room to the larger room with the only difficult tasks of making the king sized bed, using a bedspread that belonged to her parents until she could get her own, setting up the TV and cable box and trying to decide if she wanted to keep the set up the way it was. Then was the simple task of moving her bathroom items into the one private one that was connected to her new bedroom which only left the task of buying a new bedding set, a new bathroom set and other items that she wanted in her room.

Making a quick list of things to buy for her new room the blonde let out a small sigh before glancing at the clock and realizing that she had a little over an hour before she had to start getting ready for work. Pulling out her bikini from her underwear drawer she smiled to herself and stepped out into the hot Georgia summer before running and diving into the pool. Thankful that she remembered to set the timer on her phone she enjoyed to cool water of the pool she didn't have much time to use, swimming a few laps before pulling herself with the realization that swimming alone wasn't nearly as much fun as it had been when she was younger.

After a quick shower to remove the chlorine from her skin and hair she pulled on her work uniform, going with a pair of jeans since the weather was supposed to be cool by the time she got off. After dressing and pulling her hair into a loose side pony she had the sudden and desperate urge to make sure that every window and door was firmly shut and locked. Once she was done she grabbed her purse and keys and she walked out of the house and locked the door behind her, taking the few extra seconds to make sure even the top lock clicked into place.

"Weird." She mumbled to herself about the sudden urge to be as safe as she could but quickly shaking it off as she made her way to her car making sure not to look around her at the trees that lined her property.

"Hey Barbie!" The accented voice of Drew, the new chef, called to her and she smiled at him before continuing on her way toward the break room where Eve was sitting at the lone table with a glare on her face.

"Stay away from Randy." The Latina demanded in a voice that was just short of a growl.

"What?" The blonde asked turning toward her co-worker with a small confused frown.

"You heard me. I get that you seem to want all the guys that _I_ do but I'm not letting it happen this time. Stay away from him."

"Look, I don't want him. I'm working with him and I had no idea that the two of you were…_involved_ but I won't get in the way." The blonde said with an eye roll.

"You better not. If you do…well let's just say I know the perfect way to make your life a living hell." Eve snarled before placing an overly fake smile on her face and heading towards the door, "Nice talk."

Not exactly sure of what had just happened or what it was that her co-worker was talking about the blonde shook her head and quickly wrapped her apron around her waist before clocking in and making her way to the floor. The door above the door sounded and the blonde was surprised to see her raven haired cousin walk in with a man who had died half of his hair bright green and the other half black. Sending up a silent prayer that they not sit in her section she rolled her eyes when they did just that, sitting at a table that would be incredibly hard to ignore for however long it was that they planned on sitting there.

"Hey Barbie!" Candice called as soon as she caught sight of the blonde, her voice unusually cheerful.

"Hey." Barbie said plastering on her best waitress smile.

"How have you been? It's been a long time since we've talked." The raven haired woman said with what could only be classified as a sad sigh.

"I'm good. You?"

Candice quickly answered telling her cousin about the job she was waiting to hear from before introducing the man, Jeff, and placing her order. As she walked towards the kitchen to give Drew her new order she tried to pretend that the day wasn't as strange as it had been, which was completely useless. Leaning against the order window she noticed one of her customers trying to get her attention and felt eyes on her and was surprised to find Jeff's oddly familiar bright green eyes tracking her every move. When she was sure that her customers were all happy for the moment she immediately headed towards Wade's office and walked in but stopped short when she saw that instead one large one there were two smaller 'at home' looking one's facing the door so that whoever sat at them would have their backs to the window and faces to the door.

"You okay?" Wade asked from his seated position behind the desk to her left.

"Yeah, just a…odd customer is all." She shrugged, "What's this?" She asked motioning toward the extra desk.

"Well, you are assistant manager and there are days when you're going to have to do paper work and what not so I figured instead of sharing a desk, we could each have our own so that we wouldn't have to worry about where something was or misplacing something." He shrugged.

"That's…that's a great idea. I was thinking about it the other day but wasn't sure how to bring it up." She admitted with a timid smile.

"Well, if you have any other ideas don't be afraid to bring them up." He smiled before glancing at the clock, "Oh, Randy should be here in about an hour so finish up with the customer's you have now, don't pick up any new ones, and when all of them leave, come back here and start setting up your desk while you wait for him." Nodding the blonde took a deep breath before heading back toward the floor.

An hour and five minutes later Barbie was sitting behind her desk with her legs crossed as she jotted a few ideas about how it was that Barrett's could make a few extra dollars as she waited for Randy to show up. She was anxious to spend a little more time with him and try to see if she could _hear_ him as they spent time together but had a feeling that no matter how hard she tried or how low she let her shields drop, she wouldn't hear a thing. Glancing at the door she caught Eve glaring at her and rolled her eyes before wondering if she had the power to fire the bitchy Latina and sighed when she realized that even if she did, Eve wad damn good at her job and it would –unfortunately- be a loss for Barrett's if she got fired.

Turning her thoughts to how it was that she wanted to redecorate her home the blonde grabbed a piece of paper and immediately started writing the different furniture that she wanted for the house but hadn't made it past the couches in the living room when Randy walked in. Looking up Barbie realized that he was a lot more attractive than she had thought at first glance with his hair cut close to his scalp that met in a widow's peak at his forehead, icy blue eyes, chiseled jaw and dimple in his chin. He was wearing a V neck t-shirt that hugged his chest and forearms giving away that while he was lean he was also clearly _very _much in shape. His long legs were covered by a pair of perfectly fitting blue jeans and when he sat down; placing one of his ankles on his thigh she realized just how large his upper legs were and had a feeling that they were all muscle. Shaking her head when she met his eye again and realized he was smirking she let out a breath before smiling brightly at the handsome blue eyed man that was making himself comfortable across from her.

* * *

After a few minutes of general small talk the blonde turned to look at Randy with a small frown on her face as she bit on her bottom lip, clearly thinking about something. Not sure exactly what it was that was on her mind Randy simply sat in silence and thought about the fact that he had fed before he'd arrived. The smell that was enveloping the room was one sweet enough that it almost completely eradicated that of wet dog and made the vampire feel surprisingly light headed with the sweetness that it consisted off. If he hadn't fed previously he was almost certain that the blonde across from him would have been lying on the floor with her on top of him as he sucked her life force straight from her veins, shaking his head as soon as the image popped into his mind he turned his attention back to the woman he would be spending more time with.

"So, before we come up with any big ideas about what to do…I really think I need to see the place." She said as she fiddled with the pen in her hands.

"That may be a good idea." He laughed, "So, when exactly is it that you want to come to the Vipers Den?" He asked.

"Well...I was kind of hoping that maybe we could go now?"

"Now?" He asked, feeling his eyebrows raise slightly.

"Well, yeah. I mean, better sooner than later right? Plus, this way I know I can't get drunk since I'm technically working and when you come in tomorrow I'll have fresh ideas." She shrugged.

"Sure, just let me call and let my employee know that I'm coming. If you'll excuse me for a minute."

Stepping out of the office Randy used his preternatural speed to reach his truck, knowing that he'd moved fast enough that he wouldn't have been so much as a blur to any regular humans eyes. Glancing around for a few seconds he let out a sigh before dialing Brooke's number hoping that she wasn't too busy to answer and resist the urge to crush his phone when he was met with the voicemail message. Clenching his jaw he sent a simple text to Cody, who kept his phone on him during every minute that he could get away with it, telling the raven haired man to clear out any and all supernatural species save himself and Brooke. Heading back toward the door he knew what his friends reply would say and didn't bother looking at the message as he headed back towards the small office, digging his keys out of his pocket.

"Ready?" He asked as he pushed the door open, surprised to find her in a simple black long sleeve shirt instead of her work one.

"Didn't really think it'd look good to go into a bar wearing a shirt that advertises another." She shrugged when she realized he'd noticed her quick change.

"Probably a good idea. My customers are very…loyal." He said, smirking to himself.

XXX

Twenty minutes later Randy pulled his large truck into his usual parking spot and glanced behind him to make sure that he hadn't lost the blonde on the way to his establishment and let out a relieved sigh as he watched her exit her own vehicle. When they'd gone to the parking lot they'd gotten into a small debate about whose car it was that they would take both, Randy was sure that he was too tall for hers and she simply stated she wasn't climbing into his monster before they'd agreed it'd be best to each travel on their own. The vampire couldn't help but be thankful for the decision, there was no denying the blonde had possibly the best smelling blood that he'd come across in the last decade and it would be pure torture on him to be locked in such a small place with it.

It wasn't that he would 'lose control' and kill her but it would be nearly impossible to hide his fangs that had been popping out randomly since he'd first walked into the small office though that wasn't entirely because of her smell. He'd glanced over at her while she'd been bent over one of the filing cabinets looking for a paper and the sight of her long lean legs and round bottom had caused them slid out as various images popped into his mind. They'd made an appearance again when he'd caught the vaguely familiar scent of the man that he considered a true enemy, strong enough to make him furious at the fact that Jeff had gotten so close while he'd been day-dead.

"So, this is it?" She asked glancing over and up at him from the corner of her eye, not really taking her eyes off of the cement building in front of them.

"Yeah, what do you think of it?" He asked, honestly wanting to know her opinion.

"It's not what I was expecting to be honest. I mean, when you hear Vipers Den and then see you…well, an upscale night club doesn't exactly pop into your mind." She shrugged before continuing at his questioning look, "I expected some run down bar with a bunch of bikers ordering drinks by the pitcher and getting into fights. Not fresh on the scene clubbers dressed like they're in L.A." She shrugged glancing once again at the long line of clubbers.

Not exactly sure how to respond Randy simply gestured her towards the door, wondering what it was that her reaction would be when she saw the inside of the building and knew that if her surprise at the exterior was anything to go by it'd be entertaining.

As they passed through the employee entrance and into the break room he could almost hear her eyes widen as she took in the sight of the studio apartment like space with its plush couches in the center, row of cubbies against the door and bunk bed pressed against the back wall. Against the wall across from the door was a small kitchenette set up with a full sized fridge, oven and sink as well as a microwave and a few cabintes that contained utensils, plates and cups as well as different condiments. He watched silently as Barbie stepped into the room and glanced around for a few more minutes in silence before she turned to face him with wide eyes, which he was knew wouldn't disappear until after the tour, and shook her head.

"Are you sure this is only a break room and not a studio apartment?" She asked.

"Actually, it used to be an apartment building. The top floor had two full sized apartments and the first floor was four studios. If you're wondering, that door over there is the bathroom with a shower. Anyways, Iconverted the bottom floor to a club and I rent out the two apartments upstairs at an obviously cheap price." He shrugged.

Shaking her head she simply walked out the door and he couldn't help but laugh as he closed the door behind him and led her toward through another door where they were greeted by flashing lights and music loud enough they could feel the bass in their chests. She sent him a small smirk before motioning to the bar which he took to mean she wanted a drink and followed her closely through the crowd, pressing a hand against the small of her back. He could tell by the movements of her head that she was taking in the interior of the club the best she could through the lack of light and the flashes of the strobe lights hanging from the ceiling.

"This place is really nice." She commented as she perched herself on one of the barstools at the end of the bar.

"Thanks." He nodded before raising his hand to catch Cody's attention who he could tell had his hands full preparing drinks.

Noticing his boss the raven haired man slipped his most recent customer a beer before making his way over to the corner of the bar where he noticed the blonde haired woman sitting next to Randy though he couldn't see her face as she turned her head in the other direction.

"Whiskey or scotch?" He asked before Randy could open his mouth.

Randy didn't fail to notice that Barbie's body immediately stiffened or that Cody's hands wrapped so tightly around the drink mixer in his hands the metal began to dent and suddenly realized that the night was going to be a long one and that business was more than likely not going to be discussed.

* * *

_Ohhhhh. Cody and Barbie know each other! Shall we find out how in the next chapter? And the whole part about someone revealing themselves will come in part two of this chapter. Also, I am still taking one-shot requests. It may take me a while to get it out to you since my schedule is on a constant cycle of sleep, work, eat, sleep but I do promise to try my best!_


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to go this long without updating...had writers block as well as looking for a job and all kinds of other fun things. Anyways, here's chapter 6! Also, you get a little peek into some besides Barbie and Randys POV!

Also, yes, I changed it from Bonds to Ties because...well, Bonds fits better for the sequel. ;P

* * *

**Chapter 6;  
**_**The Truth**_

* * *

Following Randy as he led her to his office, Barbie let out a long breath as she tried to still her shaking hands but knew that until her heart stopped pounding painfully in her chest it would be a futile attempt. The last thing she had expected when she had entered the club was that she would come face to face with the voice, let alone the man, that had been haunting her dream for the last few months since she'd convinced herself that she had simply dreamed his existence by watching so many supernatural movies. The fact that he was real which mean that the run in she'd had with him was also, seemed to make the entire situation much more terrifying and no matter how hardly she was trying to push it out of her mind it simply came flying back like a fly that would leave when it was swatted away.

When she'd first heard his voice her body had stiffened automatically and she had to work on slowly relaxing all of her limbs before she turned around, hoping that she would see a different face than the one she knew was going to be there anyways. She'd vaguely registered that she was having trouble breathing when Randy had placed a large, cooler than normal hand on her back which seemed to make the air enter her lungs much more easily than it had when she was clenching her glass tightly enough to turn her knuckles white. Before she could say or do anything the club owner had simply stood up, facing her the entire time before holding out a hand for her which she took without hesitating, trying to calm herself enough to apologize and missing the threatening look that Randy shot at the dark haired man who seemed to be frozen in his spot as well.

When Randy pushed the large door to his office she quickly stepped inside before turning to look up into his icy blue eyes with an apologetic frown set firmly on her face, "I'm sorry about that…I just…" She trailed off, not sure how to explain her reaction to the man or if he would believe her story.

"It's fine." He shrugged before motioning to the couch, "Why don't we sit down and you can explain it to me."

"You won't believe me." She sighed sitting down and pulling her knees to her chest so she could rest her chin on them.

"Let me be the judge of that." He said before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch and turning to face her, waiting patiently for her to begin.

Taking a deep breath and wrapping her arms around her legs as she hugged them closer to her body, she fixed her eyes directly in front of her on the spot on the wall that had clearly been plastered over. Letting her mind travel back she began to explain to him how she'd decided to go for a walk on the small path in the woods beneath her house and how she'd veered slightly off the trail to head to the small creek. She'd been thinking about the times she'd walked the trail with her brother when she was younger and then again with her high school boyfriend when she was older and went the wrong way, never realizing the feeling of something predatory watching her every move.

By the time that she'd come out of her thoughts she realized that she was not anywhere that she recognized and was far deeper into the woods than she had meant to go as the sun's light was much dimmer than it had been. She had looked around, now feeling the pair of eyes on her, and stood for a minute debating with herself whether it was worth the risk of walking or simply staying where she was until whatever it was either attacked or moved on. The choice was taken from her when a man had appeared in front of her seemingly out of the air, pulling a high pitched and frightened shriek from her thought that the raven haired man laughed at, his eyes gleaming eagerly.

After he'd introduced himself and she'd done the same she cautiously asked if he knew the direction that the road was in, keeping the fact that he could very well point her in the wrong direction or simply refuse to answer her. He took the latter route and simply smiled, showing a pair of elongated pearly white canines before moving at a speed that was far too quick to be human and pushing her hair to one side, showing her neck as he tilted her head to the side. He inspected her throat closely for what had seemed like an eternity, sniffing it as if it was the most appetizing meal that he had ever had muttering that 'this' was probably going to hurt a lot. Before she could so much as blink his head snapped up and he looked directly behind her, making her wonder what it could possibly be before he disappeared as quickly as he had come and the next thing that she had remembered was waking up in her bed, making her believe and hope that it had all been just a dream.

When she finished her story the blonde let out a breath and opened her eyes, not having realized that she closed them, to glance at Randy who had been perfectly calm when she started now looked irate and Barbie couldn't even begin to wonder why it was. She instinctively knew that wherever his anger was coming from, it wasn't directed at her but quickly pushed it aside to wonder why it was that he wasn't trying to assure her that it was simply a dream. Swallowing thickly she took a deep breath, trying to decide whether or not to ask the question that seemed to take over her mind but before she could decide it spilled from her lips as a small voice told her that he would know the answer without a doubt.

"It _was_ just a dream, right?"

The question seemed to pull Randy from his thoughts as he let out a small sigh before turning to her and making sure to look directly into her eyes, his answer was simple, "No."

She felt her eyes widen as she searched his face to find out if he was being anything but completely truth full but found nothing and returned his eyes to his and let out a small gasp when she realized that his usually cold and distant eyes were nothing but completely open and honest. She knew better than to expect gripping fear or complete denial to come since she had always known to some degree that she wasn't, couldn't be, the only unnatural person in the world. The small things that she had found odd before now seemed to be clicking into place as realization hit her that it wasn't only Cody who was a supernatural being. Randy's skin had the same cool feeling that Cody's had, she had only ever seen him after the sun had been set and that was something otherworldly about the graceful yet predatory way that he carried himself. There was also the fact that she couldn't hear his thoughts and she belatedly realized that during her…run in with Cody, she hadn't heard a single peep from his mind either.

Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and realized that a part of her wanted to jump for joy at learning that someone else was different and the other part wanted to be frightened by what she'd learned but couldn't quite sum up the need to do that. It was hard to deny or be frightened by it when she had secretly hoped that there were other people in the world who were far more different than she was. There was also the fact that she'd seen things in other people's minds that they tried to bury or explain away, like fangs popping into place or a man turning into a large wolf, which she had always thought to be picture from a movie or simple fantasies.

"What about…werewolves and…stuff?" She asked with a small frown, wondering just how many other supernatural creatures were wandering the world that she didn't know about.

"Yes, some are much closer to you than I'm sure you thought possible." He answered, shaking his head as if to clear it from whatever he had been thinking about, "You aren't running scared."

"That's….it's hard for me to when I've wanted so badly to believe all of my life that I wasn't the only…oddity in the world. To find out that there are probably thousands upon thousands that are just as if not more different than me…it's a relief, really."

"Why would it be a relief?"

"I…I can…I can hear people's thoughts and if I'm touching them or look deep enough I can see things from their past or see exactly what they have."

"Can you hear anyone's thoughts?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I can't hear you or your bartender, at all. Some peoples are just colors or pictures or words strung together but most people I can hear without a problem, if I let myself." She answered truthfully, suddenly feeling as if a weight she'd been carrying all of her life had been lifted as she finally told the truth about what her mother had always referred to as her gift.

After answering more questions about her ability, Randy wanting to know the specifics about what she could see and hear from other people's she quickly turned to him and asked him a question and they spent the next hour taking turns answering and asking questions. By the time that they had finished she was armed with the knowledge that the myths about garlic, crosses and not being able to see reflections in the mirrors were made up as were a few of the other little tidbits that were well known. She also learned that they could in fact eat human food if they wanted too, few vampires could walk in the sunlight if they had an item that was spelled by a witch as well as the fact that vampire blood was something far more magical than most people thought and could heal wounds and create bonds, thought he would give her any details on how they worked which she was fine with seeing as how she was sure she wouldn't ever create a blood bond or tie with anyone.

After a quick glance at the clock she realized that it was later than she had planned on staying and let out a sigh before turning back to the tattooed vampire, "I guess I should get going, it's later than I thought and I'm not sure if Wade will need help or not."

"I'll walk you to your car." Randy smiled as he opened the door and the sound of the club met their ears as did the sound of the loud yells when the music was suddenly cut off, "Or not." He sighed.

"I'll be fine." She smiled, "Go take care of that and I'll see you Monday to actually get some work done?" She asked with a teasing smile.

"Yeah. See you then." He nodded turning to deal with whatever the situation was and the blonde found that she couldn't quite turn away from him walking away.

While she hadn't really noticed it the first time that they met since she'd been busy worrying about work, now she couldn't deny that there was something about the man…vampire that was walking away from her that was unbelievably sexy. She knew that if they weren't currently working together or if she believed in having affairs with people that she worked with, she would without a doubt try to have something with him even if only for one night. Shaking her head with a sigh, realizing that nothing would come of it and that he hadn't so much as looked as if he wanted her in any way she pulled out her keys before heading to the door, pushing away the thoughts of him that weren't completely professional.

Pushing open the large metal door the blonde let out a shiver as the cool night air greeted her, making her skin break out in goose bumps as she made her way to her car, stopping at the large 'void' that she realized was approaching her at a rather rapid pace. Turning instinctively to her right she lifted her hands automatically to defend herself and knew that with the speed that the large white blur was coming toward her she wouldn't stand a chance to do anything but scream before it hit her, so she let out a scream and hoped that Randy or even Cody would hear it with their unbelievably heightened senses and come to her aid so that not too much could happen to her.

At the same time that she felt whoever it was collide with her body, sending her flying through the crisp night air, there was the unmistakable sound of the metal door slamming open with enough force that it sounded like it bounced off of the wall before a pair of arms stopped her from flying, knocking the breath from her body for the second time in the span of a few minutes. Thankful for whoever had caught her she turned her attention to the sight of Randy who was standing over the white haired man, his eyes which she'd known to be a chilly blue now completely black as his face contorted into blind fury as he glared at her assailant. Watching as he picked the man up something about his movements, every one of them calculated and precise told her that even though it was physically Randy standing in front of her, mentally, it was someone or something else completely.

* * *

Glancing down at the blonde who Randy had demanded she save through there sire bond, Brooke couldn't deny the fact that while she was gorgeous there seemed to be something supernatural about her. It wasn't just the fact that she smelled better than any human she'd ever come across in her twenty five years as a vampire either. Frowning as she realized that whatever it was she wouldn't be able to place she noticed the woman was staring at something and followed her gaze, a low growl rumbling in her chest at the sight of Ken Anderson laying on his back as he looked up at Randy with an almost comical expression of fear and surprise.

Glancing up at her Maker she let out a small breath and realized that Randy was no longer in control and that Viper was making an appearance as Randy's usually icy blue eyes turned suddenly into soulless black voids. The last time that she'd seen the Viper had been four months ago when a group of rouge supernatural beings had tried to get him to sell the club with various types of abuse against his employees. After seeing Trish, his longtime business partner, staked slightly left of the heart he'd let Viper come out and in a few days all of the members of their attackers were…no longer a problem to say the least.

She wasn't sure how exactly it was that Randy's alter ego had come to be or if Randy was even aware that he wasn't exactly the same person when the Viper came out but she knew that she would never want to be counted among his enemies. There were enough of those as it was and the white haired man lying on the concrete as Viper raised the stake that he seemed to pull out of the thin air, she realized that in a few seconds there would be one less. Frowning she glanced down at the blonde who was still in her arms, blue eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open and bit her lip as she realized that this was the woman that Randy had taken the task of protecting until they could take her to WWE headquarters.

"Barbie?" She asked, drawing the blondes attention away from what she knew was going to be a very bloody scene, "Do you want to go inside and…take a minute?"

"I…yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She nodded, her gaze flicking to Randy before quickly averting her eyes as she slowly stood up, making Brooke realize that the girl was trembling.

"Tell her I'll be in, in a minute then I'll drive her home." Viper growled out his attention still completely on Ken who was now narrowing his eyes as he looked between the two of them.

"Yes, Master." She answered before guiding the blonde through the door frame mentally noting that they would need to get that fixed before the night was over.

* * *

Glaring down at the man that would soon be his former enemy, Randy let out a snarl before blurring to his truck, knowing that the man was currently paralyzed, to grab his gloves and the short silver chain that were sitting in the back. Letting out a small his as the silver made contact with his skin he quickly put on the items that would protect his hands before turning to Ken with a malicious smile as he purposely slowed his gait to what he knew would be even more vicious. Letting one end of the chain fall against the ground and trail behind him, he stopped at his enemy's prone feet and smirked as he took in the other man's simple outfit of shorts and a t-shirt, wondering if the man had any sense at all when it came to protecting himself, not that he really cared, it just seemed a waste of a vampire.

Before the man could say much of anything Randy made quick work of wrapping each of Ken's limbs in the long silver chain, making sure it would not only be impossible for him to escape but for anyone else to release him. Glancing around the parking lot he narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out where the sun would hit the area first and let out a chuckle when he spotted the small space between the dumpster and wall. Not only was it perfect but it was also hidden from view and would take a while for the sun to completely finish off the man if he was set in exactly the perfect position, which Randy made quick work of doing before blurring into the club and his office.

He stopped outside of the door to his office and took a deep breath as he pushed down his alter ego, the blonde was by herself and as much as Randy wanted to tear into his child for leaving her by herself he knew that she had done what he would have wanted to anyways. The club didn't run itself and at the moment he trusted Cody far less than he ever had before and didn't want the raven haired man out there by himself with either the humans or the money. Pushing aside the thoughts of his employees he pushed the door open and took a deep breath, ready to face any reaction that the blonde telepath might have but wasn't ready for what he received.

She was sleeping. Her small form was curled up in a ball against the high arm of the couch, her head resting against the back of the couch as her heartbeat and breathing were nice even patterns that he couldn't help but chuckle at. Shaking his head he moved over to stand in front of her, wondering if it was a good idea to wake her up but quickly decided against it knowing that everything that had happened in the last two hours were things she was going to need to sleep on. Sliding her into his arms he whispered at her to go back to sleep when she started to wake when he lifted her before grabbing her purse and heading towards her car and depositing her into the passenger seat.

Fifteen minutes later he pulled into the driveway of her house, silently thanking the invention of GPS, before stepping out of the car only to be hit with the distinctive smell that only served to raise his suppressed anger to a level he hadn't felt in months. Growling he looked between the trees where he knew that the person was hiding and the car where the blonde telepath was still sleeping before letting out a sigh and moving to the passenger side. As he carried her to the door and unlocked it he froze, realizing that there was no way he was going to be able to get in unless he woke her up since he had no invitation to the house.

"Hey, I need you to wake up." He sighed, rocking his arms in hopes that she would wake, which seemed to work as her eyes snapped open and she looked up at him slightly confused.

"What?" She asked, her voice groggy as she wiggled in his arms to be put down.

"I was going to take you in but I don't have an invitation." He shrugged setting on her feet.

"Oh, keys?" He handed them to her silently and watched as she pushed the door open before standing in the entry way and turning to him, "Come in, Randy."

He couldn't help but laugh as he shook his head, "Kind of defeats the purpose, now that you're awake."

She turned red before folding her arms across her chest and shrugging, "I guess…I, um, I'm going to call Wade. Do you mind talking to him after I get done? I'm sure he'll have questions."

"Sure."

Stepping into the house he was surprised that he hadn't noticed the scent when she'd first open the door and let out a deep breath as the blonde's delicious smell hit him ten-fold as well as one that was similar but some…more. Shaking his head he glanced around and quickly realized that the house seemed to be missing a personal touch as there were no pictures or other odds and ends that proved it was lived in. There had been at some point however, as he took in the small shapes that had less dust than other places and the fact that there were an array of stains and smears on various furniture, though he knew Barbie wouldn't see them since they would be invisible to a humans eyes.

Turning his attention back to the home owner he found his eyes drawn to the saw of her hips as she walked and the perfect curve of her ass, wondering if she worked out to stay in her shape or if she was just blessed with the perfect figure. Mentally sighing he clenched his teeth as he made himself think of the last time that he'd gotten attracted to one of the people he was supposed to be protecting, there was no way he was going to make that same mistake twice. Pulling his eyes from her bottom was harder than he'd expected it to be and glanced around, realizing that they were in the kitchen which proved to feel much warmer than the previous room.

It was clearly in the back corner of the house as there were two window, one directly in front of him that led to an enclosed porch and one to his left, sitting right above the double sink both allowing the moon to let it's silver light through before she flipped on the lights. Taking in the room he realized that the large table in the kitchen was cluttered with various envelopes, magazines and a lap top that had what was undoubtedly a cold mug of coffee next to it. The fridge which was a few feet away from the sink and tucked into a corner was a newer version with side-by-side doors and a steel finish, as was the stove and the only thing that seemed to fit the older vibe was the microwave that looked as if it had its fair share of use.

"You can sit. Want anything to drink?" She asked as she pulled open the fridge, craning her neck to look at him, "I have water, coke, juice, tea and beer. Oh I think I have some coffee brandy somewhere…" She frowned letting the door shut to move over to the cabinet under the sink.

"Is it Allen's?" He asked to which she simply snorted before holding the surprisingly large bottle to show him that it was.

"Of course it is, I wouldn't drink it if it wasn't. How do you want it?"

"Straight."

She quickly poured the dark liquor into two glasses that she pulled out of the dishwasher that he hadn't noticed and handed him his before moving to the fridge to pull out a gallon of milk and added it to her drink, making the contents turn a dark brown rather than the black that it had been. He watched as she sipped it before digging in her purse and pulling out her phone typing in the numbers that he was sure that she knew by heart before placing the phone up to her ear. He listened as she explained what had happened when she left before the British born werewolf demanded answers that she couldn't give which led to him slipping the phone from her small hand and filling in what had happened.

By the time that the call was finished he could the blonde was tired as she sat at the table across from him, slowly sipping her drink as she fought the losing battle of keeping her eyes open. Deciding that not only did he need to get back to the club but that he still wanted to see where Jeff's smell he said he'd see her later and left. Locking the door behind him, he chuckled to himself as he heard her mumble that there wasn't enough time in the week as her footsteps led her what he guessed was up the stairs and waited until he heard the click of the lights turning off before making his way to the tree line.

Following the unique smell that could only belong to a shifter he wasn't surprised when it ended at the small creek heading up stream which could only mean that Jeff knew he was there and had decided to high tail it. _Figures_, _he knows I'm protecting her now, _he thought, _hopefully it means he won't try and pull something as stupid as Kenny boy did._ Thinking of the other vampire he rolled his eyes and wondered why it was that all of TNA's employees seemed to take such stupid risks and if the higher ups ever taught them any kind of self-preservation.

* * *

So, I don't do so well at doing the whole finding out thing but...I re-wrote it like...ten times and this is what I was happiest with. Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be the party that may or may not have some unexpected crashers. ;)

Also, there's a poll on my page for my next story! I know that I never actually write them when you guys pick them or I just forget about them but I promise this time is different! I'm _actually _excited about them so when you're done with this would you do me the favor of going and voting? Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

I know it's been about a month BUT I've been busy...job hunting is no fun. Anyways, thank you for the reviews last chapter, I appreciate it. Winners of the poll are posted below with a little side note.

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**Chapter 7:  
****Party Crashers**

* * *

Sitting behind his desk three days after Kennedy's attack, Randy couldn't help but feel impatient as he waited for the sun to sink behind the horizon so he could leave the building and head to Barbie's party without burning in the fatal UV rays. His internal clock told him that there were only a few hours left until nightfall and he thought about taking a quick nap until then since he hadn't slept since the night before but quickly decided against it. The age old myth about vampires only being able to be function when the sun was set was one of the few things about vampires that had been distorted with time. They were fully capable of being up whenever it was that they wanted or needed too, they just couldn't go out in the sunlight unless they wanted to turn into a pile of ash –or blood, depending on age.

Even though Barbie hadn't formally invited him to her fourth of July party, she'd said that he was welcome to stop by if he wanted to through one of their various texts and he'd been ready to say he would pass it up. The mention of their being lots of people and more than likely half of them being ones that she didn't know had made him stop and tell her that he would at least swing by at the thought that one of Jarrett's men could easily crash it without anyone thinking anything of it. That and the fact that he couldn't deny that he wanted to see her again in a setting that wasn't professional and wouldn't start that way had made him text her an hour ago, telling her to expect him after sun down.

To take up some of the time he called Adam and left a voice mail when the blonde haired man didn't answer the phone, letting him know where he would be that night and that if he wanted to come along he was more than welcome too. While most people would have thought as a friendly invitation, those that were working on the case or had worked with either of them in the past would know that it was simply a way for Randy to garner back-up. Wade had already informed them that he would be shutting down his own establishment to attend and John had agreed to stay in the distance so that no one would spot him as he kept an eye on the party also, in case The National Association decided to send any of their agents.

Dialing Vince's mobile work phone, Randy sat back in his chair ignoring the stack of papers in front of him for a few minutes, already annoyed by the number crunching and the fact that he hadn't taken care of it sooner.

"Randy. What is it this time?" The older man grunted, the sound of small children playing in the background alerting Randy to the fact that he was spending a little time at either his son or daughter.

"Just wanted to let you know that the teams all heading to Barbie's place tonight for a party she's having."

"In other words, if I try to call and you don't answer it's because you'll be busy doing your jobs?"

"Yeah." The vampire said, gritting his teeth at the implication that they usually didn't.

"Good. Oh, and I'm sending Dwayne to start working at Wade's to take over Justin's position."

Randy simply made a noise of acknowledgement before ending the call and trying not to let his emotions get the best of him, not wanting to end up spending the little free time he had left cleaning his office. There was no denying that Dwayne or 'The Rock' as his co-workers liked to call him was one of the best at Western Watch but he had a tendency to come and go that irked a lot of the newer guys nerves. Randy couldn't say that he had a problem with that since the shifter had put in his time and the vampire had been doing the exact same thing but John was a completely different story and for some reason seemed to have it out for Dwayne.

Taking a much needed breath and realizing that before the shifter of the team showed up he would need to call the young vampire, the club owner ran his tongue over his teeth and stood to grab a few blood bags from his office fridge. Tearing the first one open he quickly filled the nearest mug and placed it in the microwave to warm it to his preferred ninety eight point six degrees and waited until it was finished before downing it and repeating the process. After he finished with all of the bags he'd grabbed satisfied that not only would his hunger be under control but that he would be ready to deal with whatever reaction John had to the news, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and quickly dialed the number.

"What's up?" John greeted.

"Dwayne's going to be coming down to work with us."

"What's his position?" The other man asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Not really sure. All Vince said was that he was sending him down to work as Barrett's new cook and that he was taking over Gabriel's position. So if I had to guess I'd say another look out and befriending Barbie."

"Makes sense, puts our team at its usual number for an assignment and means there's someone to watch her during the day, besides just Wade."

"Yeah, well, I'd just thought I'd call and warn you cause I'm not sure when he's arriving."

"Thanks. I'll see you tonight." John said before ending the call.

Narrowing his eyes the blue-eyed man wondered why it was that his friend seemed so relaxed about the situation when not even a year ago he and Dwayne had gotten into an all-out brawl that had taken six supernatural creatures to end. While Dwayne was the type to let things go after he got it out of his system, John usually wasn't and it was either just his personality or the fact that he was still a very young vampire. Either way Randy hoped that they could both get along for the duration of the assignment or until Vince pulled one of them off the case, which he was known to do to confuse his enemies.

There was no doubt that Vince had a business mind and knew all of the right moves to make to not only confuse his rivals but how to make sure that he stayed one step ahead of them so that more people would go to him for whatever preternatural needs they had. The man had one of at least every species of supernatural creatures in his employ with the exception of the fae and someone that could read the mind of others. Though, if he had a fairy he wouldn't need a mind reader considering that was one of the many talents that the presumed extinct creatures had.

Not only could they read minds but had the ability to teleport, heal anyone that they pleased and give their opponents a sort of 'shock' with the strange light that they could manifest with their hands. To add to those talents they usually had the alluring smell of something that most vampires would explain as bottled sunlight which was used to bait vampires before finding a way to kill them. As far as their weaknesses went, no one was sure what exactly they were beyond iron which would significantly weaken them and any type of citrus though, the reason for that wasn't known to nearly anyone still alive or undead.

The sudden burst of energy that shot through his system alerted Randy to the fact that night had fallen and he made quick work of cleaning up the slight mess he'd made with the blood bags and stored the papers in the drawer of his desk. In about two minutes and forty seconds Brooke and Cody would walk in, ask him what he wanted them to do before moving to the floor of the club and getting things ready for the night. Since it was the Fourth and it usually meant more customers than usual along with a flow of more alcohol he pulled out a few hundred dollar bills from the safe that only he knew the code to, knowing that Cody or Brooke would need to go to the nearest liquor store even though they'd already received their usual supply the day before.

"I'm not going to be here tonight, I'm trusting you to keep the place under control." He said as the two walked through the door.

"We've looked after the club on our own before." Cody commented, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but I've always been around to do damage control. I won't be tonight and it's the Fourth of July." He reminded, the sound of fireworks going off in the near distance emphasizing his point.

"Don't worry, boss." Brooke smirked, "We'll make sure everything runs smoothly."

"I severely hope not." He said simply with a pointed look to each of them before continuing, "There is four hundred dollars in the envelope in the top drawer of my desk. You'll need it. I'll see you all before the nights over." He said before grabbing his phone and car keys and walking away, hoping that he could trust them to keep the place in order.

* * *

Letting out a breath as she searched in her cupboards for the bottle of coffee brandy she'd hidden away earlier, Barbie muttered curses under her breath promising bodily harm if one of the party goers had found it. When it didn't turn up in the kitchen she made her way to the laundry room and let out a sigh of relief as she opened the washer and found it resting on the pile of clothes that she still needed to wash. Snatching it up she wasted no time in screwing off the cap and taking a hearty gulp before filling the glass in her hand and placing it back in her hiding spot, hoping that no one would find it, knowing that if they did she would demand it to be replaced in some way. If there was one thing the blonde was serious about it was her Allen's coffee brandy since she'd yet to find any in the liquor stores around her.

"You're hiding the good stuff?" Kaitlyn asked as she walked into the room, swaying slightly as she stood in the doorway before grabbing it to steady herself.

"You would too if you had to order online and pay the price that I did." Barbie shrugged.

"Makes since, oh, Ted's looking for you by the way." The girl with two toned hair smiled, her eyes sparkling somewhat when she said the name.

Rolling her eyes as she added milk and ice to her cup, she let out a sigh knowing that her brother wanted to talk to her about the girl standing across from her and when she was going to put in a good word, "I have a question and I want you to answer honestly." Barbie said, looking her friend in the eyes.

"Okay." The older woman nodded, drawing out the word and sobering up slightly at her friends tone.

"What do you think of my brother? And I'm asking as a friend not his sister."

"Honestly, I've had a crush on him since we met."

Barbie smiled brightly at the answer as she spoke, "Good, cause he may have a crush on you too. Why don't you go talk to him and find out." She suggested.

Instead of responding the other woman simply smirked before shouting a thanks over her shoulder and walking out of the house and towards the grill where the man they had just talked about was standing. Shaking her head and hoping that neither of them messed up what could actually become a steady relationship she moved to the front yard and sat on the porch, taking a small break from the people that had constantly surrounded her. Biting her lip and checking her surroundings she grabbed the pack of cigarettes she had in her pocket and put one to her lips to light it, inhaling the toxic smoke and feeling her body relax as she did so.

Moving so that she could lean against the door and look up at the stars that seemed to be shining much brighter than usual, she couldn't help but wonder if it was a sign that something good was going to happen. The thought lead to her lowering her shields so she could hear the minds of those around her and was immediately assaulted with various images of the party and the things people were really thinking. At first it was a jumble of noise and sounds and taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and after a few minutes she was able to pull them apart and connect the images to the sounds and the people that were thinking of them.

_Does he not realize I know nothing about cars? I'll just nod and pretend to understand._ A woman that Barbie was pretty sure she didn't know as the man across from her explained how he rebuild a car engine.

_ When in the hell is the steak going to be done, it's been an hour. _One of the more intoxicated party goer's asked as he watched the man, Drew, who had taken over for Ted flip the burgers and check on the steaks.

_ I can't believe he actually likes me. I really hope this works out and it doesn't turn into another Dolph situation._ Kaitlyn though as she talked to Ted, a smile on her face as she tried to ignore the butterflies attacking her stomach.

_ Look at her, sitting here smoking a cigarette like she's better than us. I can't wait until she gets what's coming to her. I warned her. _Eve's thoughts seemed to be roared and from her mind she seemed to be standing a few feet away, though she wasn't invited.

The only other thing that seemed to really catch her attention were the three voids that seemed to suddenly appear in her minds eye, she knew that one was Randy as it had been dark for a few minutes but she was clueless as for the other two. There was no way that he would invite his employees since it was the Fourth and she knew from experience that bars and clubs stayed busy late into the night on holidays like this. Stubbing out her cigarette and shoving it into the small bucket filled with sand that she used as an ashtray, Barbie stood up to greet whoever it was, hoping that they were Randy's allies and not friends of the man that had attacked her.

The fact that vampires were real was still a little surprising but she felt like she was dealing with it better than most people would. After she'd digested it completely she couldn't help but wonder just how many other supernatural creatures there were in the world populations wise. Was it enough that if they wanted to they could overtake the humans like in the books she read and if they did, on which side would she be placed?

Shaking her head at the thought she let out a breath before pulling up all of the layers of her shield and turned her attention to the direction that she had felt the voids coming and placed a smile on her face. A few seconds later she could see the familiar shape of Randy's body outlined by the silver light of the moon and a slightly shorter but from what she could see just as build one walking by Randy's side. Frowning, Barbie let down one of the layers of her shields to make sure that she hadn't been mistaken but could feel a third void making its way toward the trees behind her house.

"Hey." She smiled as they walked up the few steps to the porch, her eyes glued to Randy who smiled at her.

"Hey, this is my…friend, Adam. I hope you don't mind that I brought someone."

"Not at all, the more the merrier. I'm Barbie." The blonde said tearing her eyes from that tattooed vampire to his friend.

"Is that your real name?" He asked with a smirk, holding out a large hand for her to shake.

"Yes. Please don't make a joke, I've heard them all." She sighed taking in the Adam's short blonde hair, green eyes, sharp jaw that was covered in stubble when her hand came in contact with his it was hard to ignore the coolness of it.

"Right now, I won't. If I get a few drinks in me, I can't make any promises." He smiled.

Letting out a sigh she rolled her eyes before pushing open the door and inviting him, ignoring the surprised look he gave her before he strolled into the house, asking loudly where the booze was as he did so. Turning to Randy she took a minute to take in his attire of a simple grey V-neck t-shirt and jeans with a pair of clean brown boots, the top stretching across his chest and wrapping tightly around his biceps. He cleared his throats and she quickly turned around to head into the house to hide the light pink that stained her cheeks, not bothering to check to see if he was following her. She stopped in the kitchen doorway and narrowed her eyes at the mess of bottles and cans that were scattered on her table and counters.

"Ignore it. Still have the Allen's?" He asked, his voice brushing against her ear.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she tried to control the unexpected reaction that it caused she nodded before leading him to where it was, "I'm warning you now, if this ends up gone by the end of the night, I'm blaming you and telling you now you'll owe me a bottle. No one else knows where it is." She warned as she pulled it from the washer once again.

"Fine by me. I have a closet full at my house." He winked, snatching the bottle from her as he headed toward the kitchen to grab a glass.

After nearly filling his glass with the black liquid he passed the bottle to her before moving to the fridge for what she guessed was the milk and ice as she added some to her own glass, surprised that she'd already finished hers. When their drinks were finished they moved to the backyard and the blonde couldn't help but freeze, her action causing the vampire to do the same, his front pressing against her back as he asked her what was wrong. Glancing around and trying to figure out who it was that was having such violent thoughts that all they were seeing was red the blonde felt her heart rate pick up as she tried to pin point where it was coming from.

"Barbie!" Adam's voice snapped at her out of it and she held lifted her free hand to the tree line as thoughts about the attack flashed through her mind, making her take a step back knowing that she would be safe in her house.

"I'll be back." The blonde haired man said nodding to Randy over her head before easily parting through the crowd.

Taking a deep breath she allowed Randy to lead her to the living room and set her on the couch before he sat next to her, so closely that their legs rubbed against each other with each movement they made, "What was it?" He asked slowly.

"I don't…I don't know. All I could see was red. Whoever it was, for some reason they were beyond irate." She frowned, taking a long sip of her drink before turning to face the man that always seemed to be close when she was in trouble, "Are you…watching me?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered simply.

"Why?" She demanded, "I'm just a waitress that happens to be able to…you know."

"I'll explain it to you when we can talk in private." He said, his tone making it clear that there was no way that he was going to change his mind.

"Fine, we should go enjoy the party." She sighed.

He simply nodded before they picked up their glasses and walked toward the back, momentarily forgetting their reason for going back in the house, where they could hear the guests having a good time, the sounds that they were making much louder than when the party had begun, letting Barbie know that the alcohol she'd bought was going to good use. She quickly headed towards the table that the food was residing on, all the dishes haphazardly covered with tin foil and saran wrap, asking Randy to fill her glass while she did so with a pointed look. The knowing smile and nod that he gave her made her knees slightly weak as she realized for the first time that she was attracted to him.

The realization made her freeze, her hand freezing between the bowl of coleslaw and her plate as she blinked, wondering why it was that she hadn't noticed it before only to be given a slight push by Kaitlyn who looked happier than ever. As she listened to her friend talk about her excitement for her first date with Ted, Barbie realized she simply hadn't had time to really appreciate Randy's looks or personality. The first time they'd met, she'd acknowledged his good looks but had been more worried about work and during their 'business' meeting she'd been caught off guard by Cody then had learned the truth of what Randy was only to be attacked afterwards. Shaking her head mentally, she decided that this time, she was going to make sure that she took time to notice him.

At her decision, an ear-piercing scream that could only be one of terror made the entire party freeze as everyone stood silent, the music being cut off as everyone looked around for the person that had nearly busted their ear drums. During the momentary confusion Randy had returned, his drink in her hand but his face was expressionless except for his eyes which easily glided over the people congregated in the back yard. He let out a quick four letter curse before taking a large breath and giving Barbie a look that promised he would explain later.

"John, a little help would be nice." He said only speaking a little louder than normal, his words causing the blonde's chest to tighten, he seemed to notice her distress before turning to face her, "Yes." He said simply, answering the question that was racing through her mind on repeat at what seemed like a hundred miles per hour.

* * *

So, the winners of the poll are... in order:

First Cuts- _Six__ interns at McMahon-Helmsley Hospital thought that their biggest concerns would be learning to cut and how to save lives, they didn't count on their personal lives to weave into their work. When they do the six doctors find that drawing the line between the two is much harder than they could have ever thought it to be. (Mulitcharacter/multicouple)_

(I don't have a title for this yes, suggestions?)- _Recently divorced Barbie Blank is strapped for cash after losing her job and lands a job working for her cousin as a bounty hunter. She quickly learns that it's not always a case of catching the Fugitives and bringing them in, especially when they know exactly how to avoid her and have years of working as an undercover agent under their belts._

I will be posting the first chapter for the first story soon. I'm not going to give an exact date because I don't do deadlines well. The second story will be posted after that. Blood that Ties IS still my main focus BUT I will put all my effort into the stories that you chose because YOU are what keeps me motivated to keep writing with your reviews, favorite, alerts and just plain on views.


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